Darkest Days
by Lit. Metalhead
Summary: What happens when a group of misfit bounty hunters join the newly-formed Rebel Alliance? An ever-evolving battle that includes the Empire, criminal organizations and remnants of the Jedi Order.
1. No Satisfaction

**Thank you for taking the time to tolerate my first Star Wars Fic. For Fair warning, the genres mean nothing. It's really Adventure/Angst/Crime/Drama/Humor/Sci-fi. Maybe even a little Romance. Also as said in the description, this story will be mostly OC, but with some characters I'm sure you'll recognize. **

**This chapter is vulgar, but the rest of the story won't be like this.**

**That being said, enjoy.**

**Ch. 1: No Satisfaction**

**9:58 PM (GST)  
****"The Cage"**

The Cage is, locally, a very popular strip club on Coruscant. Complete with dancers of all different species-ones that are attractive anyway-this place is paradise for every hormone-raging boy, money rubbing monkey in a suit or just some down-on-your-luck man looking for love.

That last bit is actually true. I knew a guy who found his "soul mate", or according to her line of work "Soul food," in a joint just a couple systems from here. They seemed like a good couple, but conflicting choices ruined their relationship. He wanted to communicate more, but she wanted to have sex with strangers while he worked. The only thing my friend got out of that relationship was 2 months of awesome sex. It just goes to show you: Love cannot be found on a stripper pole.

So to some, The Cage may be a haven, but inside the cage lies a beast we need to bring down.

A beast worth 4,000 credits.

* * *

Oh, where are my manners? I should've introduced myself before that dramatic break in the story.

My name is Bane, Brutus Bane. No relation to the blue dude, as I would later find out. I'm a Bounty Hunter, but I perfer to think of myself as a "Hired Cop."

I am also the leader of the rather infamous Space Dogs, a ragtag team of bounty hunters which include me, my first mate Alea Ven, a sniper named Scope(Yep, just Scope) and Gidget, a smart-as-a-whip hacker and the youngest of our group at 13 years old.

For now, that's all you need to know.

After paying my fees masquerading as a ordinary man, I find myself in a lushly decorated room filled with décor that's supposed to look expensive, but actually isn't. Doesn't make much sense really. People don't come here for the atmosphere, they come for the titties or asses or whatever else these girls got going for themselves.

I sit on the leather couch inside the room patiently for a good 10 minutes before a girl comes in and shuts the door. She's wearing a latex two-piece that barely leaves anything to imagination. Also, she's a Twi'lek.

Also, it's Alea.

I really hate putting the poor girl through this. After all, she has a history of dancing for scumbags in outfits far more revealing. By that, I mean in nothing at all. It's part of the job, though, and she's the only one that can do this. Well, _I_ wouldn't mind. I look great in a thong, but it would have been too awkward with me. And we couldn't use Gidget. She'll get her chance if we ever get involved in illegal sex slave trade.

She (reluctantly) walks up and gives me a fake lap dance, so suspicion by the bouncer outside wouldn't a-rise. Call it fake all you want, it still turned me on.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Yeah" was my immediate response, and for that, I found my locked under her vicious glare.

"All right, listen: I found evidence revolving around criminal activities done by the target."

"Enough to give us authorization to nail him?" To be clear, the guy that hired us to take him out gave us nothing to do so on. If we killed him under no special circumstance, we'd be no better than simple mercenaries, and Brutus Bane don't swing that way.

"Well... does assault count?" She sheepishly asked

"Just assault?"

"Yeah, info's a bit limited here. It was the only thing I could find. He's practically a ghost."

"Eh, good enough." Peeking over her shoulder, I see the bouncer sneaking a glance at us. Not as a pervert, mind you.

"Think your friend over there is getting suspicious." She quickly turns her her head to look, without breaking form.

"Why do you think?"

"Well, you've been doing the dance for a couple minutes straight." She immediatly stops and switches to another form, in vain. Noting the possiblility that he might have seen us talking and planning, she wracks her brain to come up with a plan.

"Touch my breasts." She finally says to my complete and utter surprise.

"What?" I ask, though don't think that I'm not keen on the idea.

"Just do it!" She orders through her teeth. I reluctantly proceed to touch her "unmentionables" (feeling a bit like a teenage boy given permission to touch the hot next door neighbor) and, as predicted, I'm given a hard yet pulled slap to the face.

"No touching the ladies!" She sternly says to me as my rub my pulsing cheek. The bouncer turns to us, ready to come over and go all madhouse on my ass.

"Don't worry, I've got this one." She states, being damn convincing to the point where I myself am nervous. She's good at this kind of thing. It's one of her many talents.

Seeing no need to interfere, he actually walks away!

"Damn, your good." She says nothing, but smiles confidently at this compliment, then sits down next to me.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" After hearing this she strikes a confused look. "Did I say stop?" Groaning, she decides to compromise, which is also something she is very good at.

"If we can get out of this job with no injuries, I'll give you a 2 minute one. Deal?"

"Same outfit?"

"Yes." After a noticable sigh.

Couldn't argue with that. "Deal."

"So, what's the deal with this assault thing?" I ask, looking for some kind of method to get in contact with him. According to the guy that hired us, he rarely leaves his office. This "assault" thing seems like a good thing to work on. "According to records I found, he's pretty clean-slated. The only thing he's been nailed for is assault a couple years ago. Apparently, he broke some poor bastards arm because he insulted his 'merchandise.'"

"Merchandise?"

"His girls. Must have a soft spot for them."

Now, there's something you don't see everyday: A big corporate monkey has a soft spot for the little guy, or in this case, little girl. A rather sadistic smile creeped on my face, which didn't go unnoticed by Alea, who looked a trifle freaked out. If you wish to trap the Dirt-fish, you must first set the bait. Then he'll come to _you_. Think of it as psycological bait.

"Back in a minute." I spoke as I stood up to take a step outside the velvet room.

Now normally, I don't like to cause scenes. Having everyone know you're out to kill someone is bad for business. This is an exception, though. I gotta coax that guy to come out, so I can deal with him myself.

Once I step out, I look about the rowdy crowd. They're all drooling over a rather flamboyant girl dancing on a lit up pole. I look back at Alea, and clear my throat.

"I AM NOT SATISFIED!" I yell, past the ability of my lungs.

Just as I thought: The entire club goes silent, with all eyes on me. The girls stop dancing and the waiters and waitresses stop serving. A bouncer, no make that two, walk up to me.

"Is there a problem?"

"You damn right there is!" I yell with a drunken lisp, trying to sound as obnoxious as possible."I have not been satisfied by your girls." I seize a quick opportunity and grab a glass of what I assume is whiskey. I didn't have to lie for this one. It tasted like crap. I take a swig and spit it out. "Plus, this is horrible whiskey."

"That's because it's champagne."

"Really? Well, it still sucks. What kind of place you running here? Bring out the owner so I can yell at him!"

The two clearly irritated bouncers look at each other. I use this chance to steal a look at Alea, who's still sitting in the room, head resting on hand. She looks positively mortified. I bid her a wink, and she returns the favor by bidding me a cutthroat gesture. Oh, I am in trouble tonight.

"We'll let him know." Just like that? Lucky me. I don't even have to hold anyone hostage. Good thing too, because that plan gets really messy sometimes.

And so, after waiting for an undetermined amount of time, I finally come face-to-face with the big boss. I really should say face-to-stomach, because this guy is XXXL. He's wearing a large gray suit, pressed and primmed. His whole image is reminding me of what I compared him to originally: A gangster. Basically, he just radiates power, and he looks like he ain't afraid to use it.

"So I hear you're unsatisfied?" He speaks in a gutteral tone that reminds me almost of a bull frog. I try to show no fear, and respond back.

"Yes, we covered that."

With a wave of his hand, two goons armed to the teeth appear from behind and the next thing I know, I'm looking down the barrel of a gun. Wow, he _is_ touchy. People in the bar, seeing the loaded weaponry, panic and run like hell to the nearest exit, leaving us two to discuss business.

"As if it's my fault." I mutter.

* * *

**Outside, on a nearby building**

"But, I'm _bored_!"

"And I said 'I don't care.'" Replied a rather irritated Scope to the young hacker known as Gidget, who has been begging mercilessly to shoot at birds with his scoped laser rifle while she should be watching over her portable monitor for any police activity.

"You are not gonna shoot my rifle at any birds because a) It's a waste of ammo and b) It might give away our position." Scolds Scope. Scope, reaching in nearly six feet, is essentially the big man of the group. He is dressed in a long sleeved shirt made of some unknown material that is thick like a burlap sack and covered partially by a sleeveless camo vest and matching camo pants. All this is complete with a rawhide leather cowboy hat covering his blondish hair and aviator shades. His favorite rifle, in danger of being shot by Gidget is mounted on a tripod overlooking the stripclub across the street.

"It's a _silenced _rifle! Plus, these birds are freaking me out." Gidget, at 13 years old, is the youngest member of the space dogs. Despite her age, she has prover herself capable in battle and is a skilled hacker. Her attire consists of a green colored light jacket covering a black t-shirt (barely seen due to her being closed up to keep the cold wind of Coruscant at night from skin contact) and loose-fitting jeans with the bottoms tucked into her boots. Her head is mostly covered by her favorite army helmet and green tinted goggles, which barely make her likewise green eyes and black hair visable.

"What do you think they're gonna do?" Scope asked, finally humoring her.

"Come down and peck our eyes out." She waved her arms and spoke in a ghostly voice to look scary, but actually ended up looking kind of stupid. "Seriously, they look like they can do that."

Scope gave her a moment of silence before saying "What do you care? You're wearing goggles."

"But you're not." She said rather quickly. "I care for your safety."

"If you cared enough for my safety, you wouldn't have left me to fight that group of pirates alone when we were on Naboo."

"I was shot by a poison dart!" She cried while shooting him a look of offense. A look of remembrance appeared on his face.

"Oh, yeah. I remember that..."

"_Listen, I'm just saying this isn't the best shipment of lasers I've ever seen. Don't you have anything better?" Spoke Scope who, along with Gidget, was in charge of disguising themselves as a person of power with his daughter and intercept a shipment of lasers. Mostly for a job, but mostly for personal gain. They wanted the lasers._

"_Better?" Asked the captain, who looked a wee bit displeased having his inventory insulted. "How's this for better?" He made a motion with his hand and fired a dart. The elderly and partially blind pirate, however, missed his mark and proceeded to strike Gidget in the neck with a dart full of mysterious poison. She placed her hand on the wound almost with instinct and muttered through her teeth a "Dang" before collapsing to the ground to a heap._

_Both Scope and the pirates stared at the site before them, each with a look that said "Oops."_

"_Is she dead?" If she was, Scope could consider himself thrown into the fire pits of Mustafar by Brutus._

"_Oh, no. It's a paralyzing poison. She'll be fine." Scope heaved a sigh of relief before he heard the next thing he said:_

"_You, however, are a different story. Kill him." Scope turned to find a group of pirates aiming their trusty armaments at him._

"_Dang." He repeated._

"You are never gonna let me live that one up are you?"

"I couldn't move for nearly 2 weeks!" Said a pissed off Gidget. "You had to help me eat, Alea had to bathe me and I had to wear a diaper!"

"Yes, that was an awkward time for both of us." He sarcastically spoke as he proceeded to change the subject. Technically, it _was_ his fault.

"Listen: If you're so bored, go check and see how the Bounty Hunting Tag Team is doing."

Gidget did so, but only after muttering a string of curse words, including calling Scope a name that shall not be mentioned in polite company. Walking up to look into the rifle's scope, she gave a watchful eye into the bar.

"They're aiming guns at Brutus." She said, almost nonchalantly.

"WHAT?" Snapped a surprised Scope. He crawled up to Gidget's position and leaned into the scope to find Brutus being threatened by two portly looking guards.

"Blast it." With rushed intentions, he cocked and aimed his rifle "He's gonna be so ticked off."

* * *

**Brutus's POV**

"Oh, come now Luzie, baby. Can't we talk about this?" I tried reasoning the situation. My first plan, which was to use a living shield for myself, was foiled when everyone started panicking and ran out of the club. Right now, it's mass hysteria outside. Local police are gonna get curious, so I need to finish this job ASAP.

Anyways, before I find myself riddled with holes, the guards were hit with pinpoint accuracy between the eyes.

"About time, Scope." I muttered into my earpiece.

"Sorry, sir." I hear after a second of static, his voice is replaced with a lighter, more effeminate voice. Probably Gidget.

"Brutus, I'm picking up intercepting police chatter talking about a disturbance at a local bar. I think they're on to us." Boy, did I call that or what?

"No Empire chatter?" Being noticed by the Empire was hard, but once you stir up the hive, you better be in for a long chase. It would be overkill here, though. Sending an Empire squad to keep some drunk idiots in line? No way in Hell. They weren't _that _strict... yet.

"Nope, just local lines. Coruscant Police Force."

"...And here I was hoping this was going to be a silent job." I said to myself. Don't think she heard me, though. I was about the modify my receiver when I find the big gang lord charge at me with a chair in hand. Caught off-guard (Which is not common for me, mind you), I jump rather sluggishly to my left and up landing on broken glass. A nasty gash ends up on the underside of my arm, but I suck it up and get on my feet and stand my ground against this raging Reek.

"I'll kill you! I swear to God! I'll bury you!" He yelled, with certainty.

"Then you're gonna have to do better than that, fatty." I wise crack with a scoundrel's grin on my face. It only ticks him off more and he charges like a stark-raving madman. When he brings down the proverbial hammer, I manage to catch it and use the bar behind me for a lift so I give him a face full of combat boot. He stumbles, but does not fall. He only wipes blood off his fat face and grabs a table to throw at me. I leap over to the bartender's side of the bar as it crashes and I hide there for a second to plan my next step.

My thoughts, however, are interrupted when I hear sirens just outside the bar. Crap, police are here. I peek over the bar and find tubby running into the back, hoping to exit out the back door. I quickly turn on my earpiece.

"Alea, he's heading towards your position. Take him out."

* * *

"Roger." Alea stealthy moves through the halls and comes to her target trying to open a locked door. Like a ghost's shadow, she creeps on him and pulls out a vibroblade. Raising it, she jams it into his meaty neck. Alea, being a specialist on nerve points of multiple species, was able to locate and strike a point which totally removes any ability for him to move. He falls to the ground and with a final shuddering breath, fades into oblivion.

"Now you can be at peace." Alea whispered as she closed his eyes. Standing up, she radios for her friend, but gets nothing but static.

"Brutus? Brutus, are you there?" Nothing. "Brutus?"

"Yes?" A whisper says in her ear. She nearly jumps out of her skin, but sees it's just her friend inspecting the body.

"Mission accomplished?"

"Yes."

"Nice job, darling. Let's call the others and head back. You owe me a dance." Alea at first looks defeated, but notices blood drips off of his right arm. What poor Brutus didn't realize is that cutting yourself with broken glass counts as wounding yourself on a mission. Brutus notices the wound and tries to cover it, but it's too late. Alea bids him a victory smirk and picks open the door to let them out.

"But it's just a flesh wound!" An unlucky Brutus calls out.

* * *

**Exactly one hour later**

A small, inconspicuous speeder rides down the crowded street to a bar that's overrun with local authorities and medical response teams. The two figures in the speeder look with surprise at the site before them, which includes a certain mob boss being lifted out on a stretcher while covered up.

"Looks like someone beat us to it." He proceeds to radio his leader.

"Sir?"

"What?" A female voice sounds. The voice sounds young but is also noticeably cold and icy.

"We're at the bar, but it looks like someone did our work for us. The gang lord is dead."

The voice on the radio sighs before becoming silent. After apparently thinking something over, she speaks.

"He's dead. That's all that matters."

"You think it was them, sir?" The other passenger suddenly speaks. "The mercenaries that have been showing up a lot lately?"

"I wouldn't be surprised. They have been eliminating a lot of our targets for us. Maybe it's time we introduced ourselves..."

**Anyone Care to Beta for me? I'm confident with my ability to write detail. Or Dialog. Or Fanfiction.**

**Also let me know what you think, but really even if I don't get any reviews, I'll probably keep writing. I have alot in store for this story.**

**Until we meet again...**


	2. Heroes With Razor Sharp Teeth

Chapter 2 : Heroes with Razor Sharp Teeth

**1:01 AM (GTS)**

**Undisclosed Location**

We called the mission a success. He _is _dead, and we're not graded for gracefulness, accuracy or cleverness. Just getting the job done. It's who we are.

Anyways we went back to our little hideout, located in the industrial section of the city. It's not a nice place but we don't complain. The sky's colorful here, even if it's toxic. Gidget's really the only one that can get used to living here. Being born on Raxus Prime, she's born with a certain tolerance towards toxicity in the air. Seriously, that planet is like one big junkyard. How you can live there, I've no idea.

Sitting on a small box, I stare at my friends inhaling from Deathsticks, the best way to have a good time at your mind's expense.

Now, don't give me any nonsense about how I should stop them. I tried and failed in that category. I'd like to see you try to talk a former slave girl, a man with no sympathy for himself or others, and a teenage girl just jumping into that rebellious phase out of using narcotics.

If you weren't thinking that, and were thinking of something more along the lines of "Why am I not joining them?" Well, it's simple. I've been down that road, don't want to do it again.

I tell you, those were the worst years of my life. Those things are absolute murder on your ability to comprehend things. When I became a full-blown junkie, there were no lines or shapes or detail. There was only color. Good for depression, bad for reality. Withdrawal was the worst part, though. I kept losing my hair, and purging my guts out. That really blows because my hair and my figure are my best qualities. I'd flex and show you right now, but I don't wanna rip my shirt.

No one stays long enough to get to know my personality. They usually end up leaving by morning or dead for profit.

And speaking of profits, how do people who make a living turning in figures for figures end up living in a spit-hole like this? Simple: They blow all their profits on food, deathsticks and weapons. I believe the phrase is "The best way to win an argument is to be the loudest." No one said anything about having extra chances of victory in your back pockets.

And the deathsticks, Rhea and Scope can head down that road if they want to. It's their decision. But I worry about Gidget. She's too young. If she heads down that road now, it'll utterly destroy her life. I don't want to see that poor girl out on the streets begging for food and stealing money for drugs.

Yep, just think of us as rock stars. We don't play music, but we do have instruments. We have drugs and we're dysfunctional. We're menaces to society and we play a song. That song is entitled "How Much Are You Worth?" Right now, though, the song is called "How Much Are We Worth?"

Sad, isn't it?

"Sure you don't want a blow?" The sudden sounding voice spurs me from my thoughts. It's Scope, and he's looking at me with dilated pupils and a bloody nose, probably from inhaling so much stuff.

"No thanks." I answer back with a soft tone. Everyone gives me a vague expression of surprise, not because I refused, but because I sound rather down. I know I do. All that over-thinking is not easy, or fun.

With a stroke of luck, I'm saved for explaining when I hear a rap at our door. Out here, visitors are rare and usually end up being people with worst lives than ours. We just send them on their way with less than what they came for.

That was not the case, today.

Instead, what I found when I opened the door were two men dressed in makeshift armor. I could see their faces, which meant they weren't Empire. It only meant one thing...

"POLICE!" I yelled against my better judgment. "THEY FOUND US! HIDE THE DRUGS!" I commanded my team. I could hear them freaking out and scuffling about down there. I was prepared to run down, grab my blaster and turn this into one of those late night crime shows where the trash of society is always beaten down and arrested. At least we'll get to be on holo while we're being turned in...

"Calm down, kid. We're not police."

"Empire?" I questioned.

"Nope."

"Then you must be more factory workers trying to take back their place of work. Well, beat it, or we'll cost more property damage."

"Property damage?" One, a young women, asked.

"We don't kill innocent people... unless you have a price on your head. In which case, wait here. I'll go get my blaster."

"Wait." The other, a guy who looks double my age, spoke. "We're only here to talk."

"About what?" I ask, getting pretty suspicious. I then notice a symbol on the man's shoulder guard. Not one I've ever seen before. Looks like a crude drawling of a burning fire or something like that. If it's supposed to be inspirational, it's not doing a very good job.

"What symbol is that? Never seen it before." I look to see them both giving me faces drenched in seriousness.

"That's what we want to talk about."

"So let me get this straight: There's people like you on every planet in the Inner Rim?" Questions Alea, after we were given the full story about this "Rebel Alliance." I'm not really sure to think about this. I mean I hadn't expected to live under Empire rule forever, but this seems a little to much like a folk tale.

"Almost every planet. We plan to expand outside to the Outer Rim, too." Speaks Dakk, a fighter pilot.

"How?"

"It only takes one snowflake to start an avalanche." Speaks Cleone, the young girl/engineer and Spy, with pride.

"Like that makes any sense." Scope whispers into my ear. There's a small bit of silence before Gidget speaks up.

"What do you do?"

"The Alliance is gonna take a stand against the Empire!" Spoke Cleone, who got a little too passionate about her work.

"What she means is: We're going to organize the planets and their governments against the Empire's rule and bring it down, if not one step at a time." We're all a little tongue twisted about that. A group a rag-tag rebels taking down the most powerful force in the Galaxy?

"Listen," Alea finally speaks. "Not to be a downer about this, but don't you think this is a bit of a child's dream?" They look at each other, a bit discouraged. "I mean, we don't like the Empire. We hate them. It just doesn't seem like something we want to get involved with. We hope you understand."

"We do." Pleaded Dakk. "But you must understand that this situation is not going away by itself, and is only going to get worse. First they rule over us with support from others, then it's fear. Pretty soon, they'll build that 'Death Star' of theirs." Scope scoffs at the idea and dismisses it with his hand.

"Please, that thing's just a rumor. Oh, no. They're gonna destroy my home planet with a giant floating space ball." He mocks, acting all frightened. I couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Maybe they can call on the Force to turn people into zombies."

The Force. I've never been a believer, and after the rise of the Empire, I'm sure others have lost their faith, too. Dakk and Cleone seem to be believers, since a look of offense appears on their faces after Scopes last remark. I hit him on the shoulder as if to say "Don't go there." After muttering something to each other, Dakk speaks with a tone laced with certainty.

"I assume none of you believe in the Force?" No one speaks up.

"Never had a mind for believing in higher powers." Scope says. "Sorry, but I find it hard to believe that someone can become all-powerful due to some unseen entity. Too weird."

"Perhaps you'd like proof? Maybe you'd believe if you saw a Jedi firsthand." Says Cleone, with a cocky grin on her face.

"You know one?" Cries Gidget, getting excited, and probably for no good reason. Cleone responds by dumbing down her voice as if Gidget was a child.

"Yep. Want to meet her?" Gidget nods with a huge grin on her face.

"We'd actually like all of you to come." States Dakk.

"Sure." I answer. Everyone looks at me. "I'd like to meet her. She seems like a very ideological person."

"Then let's head out."

After a ride out of Industrial, we cut into one of the more classier districts of the city, where many of the buildings are more business-oriented rather than used for living arrangements. The skyline itself is beautiful. It's around 3 AM, so the moon is around it's highest peak. In the sky, it reflects off the tall, looming buildings which themselves are already lit up with checkered spots coming from windows.

It's an awe inspiring sight, and it's one of the many reasons I love living on Coruscant.

We finally park the speeders outside of what looks like a warehouse/office. Compared to the rest of the skyscrapers here, it's pretty insignificant looking. Won't attract attention for someone who doesn't want to be noticed. Now that's good business strategy.

The Inside's a different story: The warehouse is chock full of people wearing the same makeshift clothing that our two friends are wearing doing multiple means of training from target practice, explosives, learning weapon maintenance and sparring. Really, I've never seen such a dedicated group of fighters in my life. If they really do go up against the Empire, it'll be easy to respect them, that's for damn sure.

"She's on the floor above us." Dakk, breaking my thought train, tells us. I look over my team to find them dumbstruck at the site before them.

"Wow," Scope is the first to express any kind of opinion "And here I thought you were joking about all this."

"This _is _impressive." Says Alea. "You say there are multiple fractions of you on each planet in the Inner Rim? You may actually have a chance." She smiles gently, must be happy of the fact that the Empire might actually fall.

Gidget doesn't say anything. Instead she tries to absorb the sight seen through her tinted goggles.

Passing through the training zone, a few bid us "Hello" or "Welcome." One actually said, "Welcome to where it's all gonna start." That thought wouldn't leave my head. Seems kind of double meaning to me. This could be the beginning of a new order, or the end of all free spirits.

How very dark.

Riding an elevator, we reach the top floor. It, décor-wise, is radically different from the floor below. With fancy furniture and exotic decorations, it looks almost like a Banker's office. A leather chair behind a desk is turned to face the rain covered window behind it. Wait, when did it start raining?

"Commander, we have them." The chair turned, but the shadows covered most of her. As she stepped out of the shadows, I could see her a little clearly. She looked about as old as me, around 25-ish. She wore a form fitting leather jumpsuit, which looked designed for combat complete with a skirt split down the middle of each front and a knife holster on her right arm. I eventually saw her face. First thing I noticed were her eyes. Her face may have shown no emotion, but those icy blue pools screamed contempt and hatred. When she stepped out into view, she put a hand on a curved hip and looked me up and down, then looked at my mates. Upon completing her evaluation, she looked back at me with some kind of glare. Couldn't really tell what it was. Whatever it was, it was completed with a most unladylike scoff.

"So you're the famous Space Dogs?" She spoke in a voice that sent chills down my spine. It sounded like a voice that once had so much emotion in it, but now was nothing but a hollow sound. Her piercing eyes managed to cut my tongue, and made me feel like a small child asking his mother if he can play with fire. No matter what her answer would be "no."

_'Don't let her intimidate you, Brutus. Remember your silver tongue.'_

"So it would seem." I spoke back almost immediately. I held out my hand, in hopes of making some kind of formality, and made a grin that I hoped had said "I have just met you, and I still don't trust you, but let's try to make it work." She actually shook back, so that meant something.

"Brutus Bane." I introduced myself.

"Ahsoka Tano." She introduced back, rather coldly. While we shook hands, I noticed something on her belt. Something where it wasn't hard to figure out what it was: A lightsaber.

"You're a Jedi." I pointed out. She stopped shaking and looked at me as if I insulted her right in the face. I probably did.

"I was." Was all she said before she turned around. She leans against the desk in a rather surprisingly informal manner. "Not anymore."

"But that is a Jedi's weapon, right?" I say, pointing at her saber. She pulls it off her belt, looks at it, then me.

"How do you know I didn't kill a Jedi and take it?" She says, in a sickly sweet manner. I think she was joking, but I didn't see her crack any smile.

"From what I hear, it's pretty hard to kill a Jedi."

She's silent for a minute, looking at her saber. I finally hear her whisper, "If only that were true."

Seems like this conversation is taking a toll on her, so for her sake (and mine) I change it to what I really want to know:

"So why are we here?"

"By choice." She says, giving me a look as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. "Didn't you come because you volunteered?"

"I don't know. I sort of felt an obligation when we were invited. Like your lives depended on it."

She looked irritated, probably not liking my tone.

"You're here because you've been killing off Empire supporters." We have?

"We have?" I hear behind me. It's Scope, just as confused as I am.

"Well... yes. We thought you did it as a job. Each of your targets over the last month have been people who have been advocate supporters of the Empire. Like Luz Dimmina."

"The big gang lord?" I question, trying to get my facts straight. "We killed him because we were hired to. A rival wanted to make sure his gang was ruler of that district, or at least we assumed that's what is was. We honestly didn't know he supported the Empire. And even if we did, it wouldn't matter. We don't have standards. We just do what we're paid to do. Don't ask questions. That's the bounty hunting code."

Ahsoka seems to have a hard time comprehending all this.

"Bounty Hunters? That's what you are?" I nod, and her face goes from emotionless to spiteful. She turns to face the window.

"I hate Bounty Hunters." She curses under her breath. She probably didn't mean for anyone to hear it, but I did. And I'll tell you right now: I'm offended.

"Now, there's no need to be a bitch." I put extra emphasis on the last word. Now _she's _offended. She turns around and walks up to me, eye-level.

"Don't call me that. You're the ones who's caused me so much pain in my life, so much trouble for the Jedi. You're all evil little bastards." There's so much tension in this room that I can feel the people behind me getting nervous.

"We don't take sides. We only do business for the highest bidder. Perhaps if your Jedi friends actually bothered to pay-"

"Jedi don't work with the likes of you."

"Perhaps they should've let them. Sounds to me like we kicked your peace-loving ass." I chuckle tauntingly at her. She's getting steamed, so much it sounds like her sharp intakes of breath made in attempt to calm herself sound like feral growls. She gives me a good long look at my smirking face before saying this next phrase.

"You. Are. All. _Scum_." She growls, with so much venom in her voice her breath might as well be toxic. She spits on my shirt, my favorite shirt, and walks towards her desk. I've never been one to lose my temper, instead I rely on my words being my weapon. By the look of her stance, she's trying to calm herself. I take this opportune moment to strike while the iron is hot.

"Hostility? Oh, wouldn't you master not like at that?" _That_ struck a nerve in her. Whatever she was holding, a pen or something, snapped in two. At first, I congratulate myself for my success in pissing her off. As she shakes in anger, however, I slowly begin to regret my decision. Hearing this doesn't help:

"Oh, boy." Mutters Dakk.

"What?" asks Gidget, natural curious of the situation unfolding before her.

"Your friend just said something he shouldn't have." Gidget actually smiles and rubs her hands together.

"Ooo, drama-bomb!" That's how much my team cares for me.

I come to realize that I may be, _may be_, screwed. She is a Jedi. She could decapitate me with one swipe of her lightsaber or throw me out the window using the Force. She may even hack me apart with her bare hands. Didn't think it would end this way.

She turns and walks up to me, leaving her saber on the desk. I'm sweating bullets as she walks up. She no longer looks ticked, but she's struggling. She stops inches away from my face.

"I just want you to know," She speaks rather calmly, which is making me nervous. "We, of the Jedi lifestyle, do not approve the use of aggression, violence or anything of the sort." I breath a sigh of relief, but it's instantly dissipated when she cracks a sinister grin revealing razor-sharp teeth.

"Good thing the Jedi are dead." All hope for a civilized conversation is lost when she pounces on me like a wild animal and proceeds to beat me with unusually strong punches.

I don't like hitting girls, but considering how savage of a fights she's putting on, I really don't have a choice. I try swinging back but she manages to dodge it and sinks her teeth into my arm. Damn! That hurts! Her teeth feel like a razor saw and are digging into my flesh almost to the bone. Gonna have a scar by the time this is done.

"YOU'RE BITING MY ARM!" I scream. Gratefully, she lets go and I manage to hold her back with my knee.

"THAT'S 'CAUSE I CAN'T REACH YOUR NECK!" She screeches. The thought of her tearing out my jugular with her own teeth does not fit well with me, so I manage to get my boot to her chest and kick her back. She stumbles to the desk. I manage to get to my feet, despite the pain. I, for one, am sore. Her hitting, which is scary strong, must have broken _something_. I ready to jump out, but she's ready to go another round. Guess that's her Tortuga side showing. She charges but is held back by both Dakk and Cleone. At the same time, Scope and Alea jump in front of me, ready to fight. They really _do _care.

Ahsoka, miraculously, manages to calm down. She looks at me with brooding fury.

"Get out." And just like that her hot blood went as cold as ice. "Now."

Wanting to avoid another fight, I straighten myself up, dust off my shirt, and walk away. My team follows me out. As I steal one last look at Ahsoka, I see the same face. I think I saw a tear leak out of one of her eyes, but it could've been my imagination.


	3. By My Master

Chapter 3: By My Master

Nothing but indifference to the recent events flew through my head as we boarded the elevator. I didn't feel like talking, contrary to my team's obvious opinion. I just wanted to get back to Industrial, nurse my wounds and forget this ever happened. Nothing will help me do that better than a bottle of Whiskey.

Giving Gidget permission to push the buttons, the doors close... but at the last minute are stopped by a hand blocking it from sealing. Reopening, Dakk walks in and they shut again. A silence complete with tension so thick you could cut it with that crazy chick's lightsaber.

"Listen," Dakk speaks, finally. "I know you two got off on the wrong foot-"

"Hardly the phrase I'd use." I spit back, surprised at my own anger. He moves to speak again, but I flash a hand in his face. "I don't feel like talking, so shove it."

"Fine." He listens to me, and shuts his trap. No one else says anything, so it's nothing but silence.

Until Gidget starts singing in that adorable yet irritating voice of hers.

"_99 bottles of Jawa Juice on the wall,_

_99 bottles of Jawa Juice._

_Take one down, pass it around,_

_98 bottles of Jawa Juice on the wall."_

More awkward silence.

"_98 bottles of Jawa Juice on the wall-"_

"ALL RIGHT!" I yell in a sudden and brash manner, scaring everyone, including Gidget. I shoot her an apologetic look, then turn to Dakk. "What do you have to say?"

"You've got to understand: You shouldn't blame her. You don't know the life she's had."

"Must have really sucked considering how bitchy she turned out."

"Why'd she get all bent-out-of-shape when he mentioned her master?" Asked Scope, interrupting the conversation.

"She doesn't like to talk about him."

"Who was he?" Asked Alea. Dakk grew a smile on his face.

"Here's a hint..." He then proceeded to cover his mouth and make the weird breathing sounds. I didn't get at first, but then I remembered the news...

"Vader?" I asked, shocked beyond belief. "Vader was her master?"

"Yep."

"I imagine he wasn't always like that, then." Presumed Alea.

"She mentions occasionally that he was a nice guy and a bit like her in a sense. I don't know what he really looked like. You'll have to get that from Ahsoka. I doubt she'll tell you though. She won't even tell us."

"She got skeletons in the closet or something?" Asks Gidget.

"No, it's just the way she is. She's stubborn, but she has a good and spirited heart that's been torn to shreds by someone close to her."

"FINE!" I yell, again surprising everyone. I sigh through my teeth and mutter "I'll talk to her and try to work it out. No promises, though."

"That's all I ask." With that said, we redirect the elevator and head back up to the top floor. When we get there, we're welcomed with the sight of Cleone... but not Ahsoka.

"Where's Ahsoka?" Asked Dakk, confirming curiosity among the group.

"She left." Me and my group looked at her, then door. The _only _door, leading to the_ only _elevator.

"How?"Asked Gidget, finally. Dakk tilted his head to an open window. I ran open and looked out, thankful that the rain had stopped. After squinting extensively, I managed to pick out a cleverly laid-out path that only some kind of Jedi can cross.

"Impressive." I say to myself.

"Where did she go?" questioned Gidget.

"Probably to drink herself numb." States Cleone.

"Really?" I say rather quickly.

"Yeah. She's been doing that a lot." She puts up a downcast look and turns away. "I better go get her."

"Wait. I'll go get her." Everyone looks at me with shock and/or confusion.

"Hey, I know how to talk to someone drunk. You're looking at someone who's been hammered more than an anvil." I walk to the door and close it before anyone says anything.

I guess me and this girl have more in common than I initially thought.

* * *

The bar is called the Green Moon. Not a very snazzy place, but I suppose you don't need atmosphere if your face down in dream killing juice.

Before I even step in the bar, I hear swinging music. Not dancing swinging, just music to give your mind something to focus on when your buzzed. Inside, it's just as loud. I recognize the band as the Astro Boys. A cover band that specializes in group harmonics and lyrics that make you want to kill yourself.

I love this band. I also love this song: _Have a Drink on Me._

"_Baby, you think I'm sad?_

_You think my minds on the brink?_

_Well, when I wanna kiss my troubles goodbye,_

_all I need is a good drink._

_Baby, let's drink_

_To health, To life,_

_To an end to all this pointless strife._

_No kids, no fight_

_Just you and me dancing under city lights._

_So, Baby forget your problems_

_and have a drink on me._

_Baby, forget your problems_

_and have a drink..._

_Oh, have a drink... on... me!"_

At the end, it turns out the man drinks himself to death. Oh, how I love tragedies. That song should've topped the charts.

After asking around, I manage to find dear Ahsoka sitting at the bar, face down and holding a drink in hand, probably waiting for a refill. Wanna bet it's her last call?

I slowly move to a seat beside her, careful not to alarm her.

"Sand Whiskey, please." I urge the bartender. He complies without saying a word. As I look over Ahsoka, I can see the poor girl silently mouthing the lyrics to the song playing. Kind of sad. A former Jedi with that much power and ability, reduced to this.

"I take it you like this song?" I ask her. Shocked, she turns her head and manages to comprehend it's me. She shoots me a look of pure and utter malice.

"You...you are just spoiling for a fight, a-aren't you?" She slurs, clearly out of it.

"Darling, I just want to talk." I try to sound as sympathetic as possible, but she doesn't buy it. It's like she can read my mind.

Wait, can they do that?

"I don't... feel like t- ***Hiccup*** talking." She sounds almost like a mentally disabled child. "So... fuck off." She glares at me as if trying to kill me with her thoughts, then takes a swig of her drink.

"That's no way to talk to the person driving."

"Wha...?"

"Well, I am gonna drive you home."

"No, you aren't. I can drive myself."

"Like hell you can. Those Jedi reflexes of yours aren't gonna be much help here. You'll get your ass thrown in jail."

"See if I c-care. I'm already in jail. My whole life is just one big... cell." She takes another big sip.

"I know what that's like, darling."

"Stop calling me 'darling.'"

"I call all girls 'darling.'"

"Well, stop it." She snaps.

"Fine." Silence befalls us over the calamity of the bar. I turn and paint a serious face on.

"Now, come on. I'm taking you home."

"No, you're not!" She yells, or at least tries to.

"Fine. I won't argue, but I'm not one to admit defeat so easily either." I say. She looks away as I reach in a bag I laid beside me. I pull the mystery item out and lay it on the bar. She gives a quick look at it, then me.

"I do however like to compromise. I live by the phrase 'Speak softly and carry a big stick.' Only in my case, it's a big gun." I wisecrack.

"A steering wheel?" She asks, at first confused. Then her face twists into something I recognize and call 'the dim bulb brightening.'

"Yep." She finally realizes what it is and her face turns to shock.

"You ripped off the steering wheel of my speeder?"

"I figured it was the only way I could get you to talk to me."

"Talk? TALK?" Now she's pissed. "It's gonna be pretty hard to talk with a lightsaber shoved down your throat!" She immediately silences herself after saying that by putting her hands on her mouth. Probably because she thought she revealed her Jedi origin or something. At first I didn't think anyone paid attention, but it turns out her shrieking voice pierced the bar's atmosphere and totally killed the noise to the point where even the band stopped playing. Ahsoka stands there, hands on mouth and eyes wide open. We were gonna attract trouble, so I stood and spit out the first thing I thought of.

"Sorry, everybody. My wife's a little... bitter about the divorce. Kind of wasted, too." As I walk her out, I decide to milk it. Is it necessary? No. Is it fun? You bet your ass.

"I should be the bitter one, really. She gets the house and the car and all I get are the damn kids." As we're just about out, I see someone giving a look at us.

"What's your problem?" I ask him. "You got a problem with inter-specie marriage? Go to hell."

* * *

We finally get out and make it to her car. As I sit in the driver's seat, she angrily sits in the passenger's. She refuses to look at me. I shouldn't really blame her, but she's being immature. She acts like I'm her father and I busted her at a party where they do nothing but drink alcohol and fuck each other in the bedrooms.

"Will you relax? The steering wheel snaps on and off. It's some weird safety feature. Who the hell knows what it's for?" I tried to be funny, but apparently failed massively.

"What? Now you're not gonna talk to me?"

"I have nothing to say to you." She growls, much more sober sounding.

"Didn't sound that way in the bar."

She remains quiet. Okay... let's give sympathy a whirl.

"Listen, I'm sorry about earlier. If I'd known that _he _was your master-"

"You know?" That caught her attention. "Who told you?"

"Not important. Anyway, I wouldn't have known that the mention of your master would be utterly taboo for you and for bringing him up, I apologize." I try to say more, but I see her shaking in her seat and making quivering breathing sounds.

"Are you- Are you crying?" I ask in surprise.

"No!" Her voice shook and rose in tempo. Yep, she's crying.

"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone." I comfort. "Chances are it's probably the alcohol. And if it's not, you're probably just down because life's kicked your ass." Oh, maybe that was too blunt. "Sorry."

She tries to sound calm, but it sounds like she's having a hard time. "No, you're right. My life sucks. My life, heart and will to live was torn apart by my master, the one person I loved."

"You shouldn't blame yourself, though."

"When he turned, I _did_ blame myself. Maybe I was a bad Padawan. Maybe I pissed him off. Maybe he didn't like my wild streak-"

Seriously?"_You_ had a wild streak?" She ignored me and went on.

"Only after he killed the Jedi and practically _obliterated_ my very way of life I realized that this was his own choice. I still felt like shit, though. My life had no purpose and I could barely process and control my emotions. Guess what that did to me." I couldn't figure it out, but she gave me hint when she made a gesture of spinning her finger around where her ear would be. Oh, she went insane. My eyes widened at that thought. "I committed myself to an asylum near here, where I did some... extensive thinking about what to do with my life."

"What _did_ you do?"

"Like anyone killed by life would do: I went home. Back to Shili. Stayed for about 4 years, where I did some more thinking. I finally left when a friend of mine came and asked if I wanted to join the Rebellion." For the first time during the whole ride, she looked at me. Her cheeks were so wet, I thought it would cause the markings in her face to run as if they were some kind of wet paint. "You know, my friend was so used to my old personality, he barely even recognized me when he saw me."

"What was your old personality?" I queried.

"You know, the whole free-spirited, fiery, stubborn smart-ass." She spoke nonchalantly.

"You're able to pick yourself apart that easily? I'm impressed. You're a smart girl."

"You're just trying to cheer me up." Damn, she _is _smart.

"Is it working?"

"No." She leans against the window and gently plays with her head tails. After maybe a half a minute, she faintly speaks.

"I must have really changed, but not for the better. I don't like it."

I couldn't bring myself to say anything. Here I was driving a girl who, at first glance, was the coldest bad-ass I've ever seen. Now she was bearing her soul to me while drunk and in tears.

"Well?" She says loudly. "SAY SOMETHING!"

"Like what?" I ask, feeling more serious than I've ever felt. "I'm not a therapist!" I sigh, and improvise from here. "But if you really want my opinion: It's your life, live it the way you want to."

I don't think this is the answer she expected, because she looks disappointed. She leans into her seat, and the rest of the drive is in silence. Boy, you gotta love that silence, huh?

I'll admit she's not the first person to bear their emotions on me while drunk, but she's the first to really make me think. Think about what a total _bitch _life can be. I remember one day I'm so cracked on Deathsticks. A friend takes a look at me and almost looks ashamed. I wouldn't admit I needed help, so he just left me with a bit of advice. I'll never forget those words he said: _Ad Crii do nan di pojo I nin dujo._ Roughly translated, it means "When your life's in a pit, the only way you can go is up."

I gave up the drugs about a month later. Anyways, it seems like this girl's next direction is straight outta hell.

* * *

Upon reaching the warehouse, we both exit the Speeder after parking it and stare at each other over the top. I make the first move.

"I should go back to Industrial." I spit out, rubbing the back of my neck. "The others are probably waiting for me." As I walk to go find, or should I say "borrow" a ride, I feel a hand on my shoulder.

"Brutus..." I turn to see Ahsoka looking at me and... smiling. Not a sinister grin complete with vicious teeth, just an honest to goodness heartfelt smile. "Mission briefing's at 1300." She sings gently. "I hope you'll be there."

"I-I will." I stammer out, returning the favor by smiling back at her. She turns and walks to the warehouse, with a little swagger in her step. This makes me realize something...

"Hey!" I call out. "Sleep on your side! I don't want you to choke to death on your own vomit!"

She groans rather loudly, but it's okay. I think she knows that I care.

**Just saw the first part of the new Star Wars the Clone Wars 3-parter. Part 2 looks bad-ass, but I have to wait a whole fucking week for it. High expectations are given.**

**Don't forget to review. If I can take the time to write this, you can take the time to let me know what you think about it.**

**Until then, don't drink and drive. You'll get your ass thrown in jail.**


	4. Hungover

**And so, after nearly 2 months, it's here. Enjoy and review.**

Chapter 4: Hungover...Welcome To Malastare

Hungover...

"What's wrong with Ahsoka?" Asks Gidget after seeing said girl sitting at her desk with her head slouched in her hands.

"You see, kiddo." I teach. "Ahsoka has what we call a 'hangover,' which is nature's way of telling you that you had a little too much fun last night." I can see Ahsoka glaring at me though her fingers. "So let's give Ahsoka a big hand for this achievement!"

Upon clapping my hands, everyone joins in. Interestingly, so do Dakk and Cleone. I guess they just wanna teach her a lesson. Well, the only way you can learn that stove is hot is to let curiosity put your finger on the burner.

Anyways, the clapping must have sounded like smashing drums to her. She recoils, attempting to drown out the sound. After a couple seconds, she snaps.

"STOP IT! Damn it, why'd I agree to this?" She mutters the last part and rubs her temples in agony. "This hangover's killing me."

"Well, you know what they say: The only way to cure a hangover is another drink." I point out, chuckling a bit.

"You are preaching to the choir." She sighs. "I really don't feel like talking. Dakk, do the honors?"

"Right." He motions for Cleone to hand him some kind of file. He then passes that file to me. Looking at it, I realize it's a pretty straight-forward listing of assignments. Mostly espionage, a couple search and destroy/rescue bits and a classified one. Classified? What's the point of that? Is there an Employee of the Month thing going on?

"Multiple different assignments. We need to form a squad to accomplish them. You're good candidates for that squad."

"Is that an alternative reason to our being here?" I ask, curious.

"No, just lucky." I hear Ahsoka say, pain in her voice.

"What about the people downstairs? They seem capable." Asks Alea.

"Those are new recruits. Still civilians at heart. We can't just send them into combat so early. They're not ready." Cleone points out, moving to stand next to Dakk. "You guys are more... battle-hardened. More 'qualified.'" I could hear the subtle sarcasm behind that last line.

"Right... So what assignment are we doing?" I ask.

"I vote espionage." Scope speaks up. "I'm a specialist in this field." One more piece of the puzzle. He smacks a look at me. Holy crap, did I just say that out loud?

"Yes, you did. Anyway, I know the art of the silent kill." His voice is almost a hushed growl. He pulls out his knife to show off.

"We're Bounty Hunters. We don't kill silently. We kill for a price. Put that thing away. You'll poke someone's eye out." I order him, rather harshly. He sheaths the blade and turns away, scorned.

"What about this classified one?" Questions Gidget. Dakk walks over to the desk and reaches into a drawer to pull out something. Ahsoka doesn't even notice. She might be sleeping.

"Not much info on that one. All we have is this." He holds up a holo. A drought of silence befalls us as he activates it. The holo turns on, revealing a figure dressed in similar attire to our friends here. I can't tell if it's a he or she, but what I do notice is that its posture is rather stiff, like every muscle in it's body is tightened. The head is slouched, looking down.

"This is a priority alert to nearby fractions of the Rebel Alliance from the Malastare base." The figure speaks, in a effeminate voice. Well, that answers that. Sounds muffled, though."We are in need of assistance of clearing out a nearby Empire garrison. Please respond and send assistance." With that, the message ends.

"That's it?" Scope asks. "What's the big deal?"

"We tried responding to the call and weren't able to." Cleone informs us. "We've had radio silence from that base for nearly 3 weeks. Needless to say, we got a little paranoid."

"Is there anymore to this message?" Asks Alea.

"That's all we got."

"Can you play that back?" I request.

"Why?"

"Just do it." I tell Dakk. He does so and the message restarts. The message restarts and the girl appears again, restarting her little speech. This time I don't pay attention to it, instead I pay attention to smaller details.

"Her stomach's not moving. She's talking but not exhaling or inhaling. Her lips aren't moving, either."

"What does that mean?" Asks Cleone.

"She's not talking. That combined with the fact that there's radio silence at that outpost means that-"

"She's dead." Says Gidget suddenly, in a voice laced with doom. I hear a couple gasps in the room, but don't figure out who makes them.

"That's right." I say, ignoring the creepiness of the remark made by the girl. It makes sense. The stiffness? Rigor Mortis. Her head is slouched because nothing's holding it up. The voice sounds muffled because it's likely being thrown from someone outside of the holo's transmitting range. She's a corpse, and someone's using her as a puppet. Sick. My guess is the one who's throwing the voice.

"Someone wants to lure us there." Scope breaks the uncomfortable silence.

"Empire?" Someone, I think Alea, asks.

"No." Ahsoka says, finally alive. "Even the Empire, cruel and tyrannical as they are, have standards." She stands and moves up to me, still a little out of it. "Every big fraction in this galaxy has some bit of 'etiquette,' so to speak. I'm pretty sure most of them don't allow using corpses as holo bait. That's just..."

"Sick?" I fill in.

"I was gonna say disrespectful."

"It is pretty fucking sick, though." whispers Gidget. Such terrible manners.

"Gidget, watch your mouth." I scold her. Ahsoka looks at me, for reasons I don't know. "What? We don't think young children should curse. We're bounty hunters, not animals."

"So what's the plan?" Dakk asks her.

"We humor them. We'll go there and find out what's really going on." Ahsoka says.

"And if it's a trap?" I ask. Always set up scenarios at every angle. You'll live longer. Something shows in her eyes. It looks like confidence mixed with anger and a dash of humor.

"Then it sucks to be them."

...Welcome to Malastare

Our ship is... not the best looking thing in the galaxy; but _The Medusa_ flies and fights like a dream. As our only mode of transportation, she's seen a lot of action. Interestingly, the _Medusa_ was not a fighter. She was actually a cargo ship that we "rescued" from the factory of a corrupt corporation. We modified her with a shield generator, weapons including twin laser cannons, and the usual gear for the adventurer's ship. Trackers, smuggling compartments... the works.

Dakk and Cleone stayed behind, so it's just my team plus Ahsoka. She seems like the kind of person to have flown a few ships, but irregardless, I'm driving. I'm the only one that drives. Whenever Scope drives, we end up trashed on some remote planet.. Alea's a bit of a, for lack of a better term, tightwad and won't even use the hyperspace jump. Gidget... Well, I don't have to tell you that, do I?

After whacking the hyper jump, we're flowing through a wormhole that has a touch of psychedelia. Any pilot can tell you he or she felt a bit of sensation the first few times they hyper jumped. You know, one time I flew through hyper-space while high on Deathsticks. There's no word to describe how insane the feeling was. Jeez, I was so mind-fucked I passed out. Not something I'm ever gonna do again.

The low frequency hum of flying through hyperspace makes my body loosen up and the dark chains of exhaustion bind me, so I set it on autopilot and doze off. I think I was asleep for maybe a half hour before I hear the chair next to creak. I creep out of nap time to find Ahsoka sitting next to me. She looks stressed, to say the least. Well, I couldn't blame her, with all she has to do. Plus, she has to put up with us. That takes willpower.

"You know, Alea used to be a masseuse. Perhaps a massage would ease you up." She put some kind of look before gently shaking her head. I think she actually considered it.

"No, I'm good. Besides, the last thing I need is to relax. How can I at a time like this? People are hungry for action. The smell of mutiny's in the air." Her eyes squeezed shut for a brief moment and rubbed the side of her head with the heel of her palm.

"Headache?"

"Hangover's still got me."

"Liar. The stress is getting to you. I can see that much." The look she gives me says I'm right, but she hates it. Yeah, a lot of people hate it when I'm right.

"You know, I had a friend who was a workaholic. Never made time for his personal life. Took a couple years before he finally learned to relax."

"Wow, how did he do it?" She asked, actually curious.

"He died." I blurted out. Ahsoka appeared shocked to say the least."Wanna know the irony? He was due for a promotion the day after he keeled over. When the bosses told me that, I found it hard to contain myself from giggling at the funeral. Thank God I didn't have to give the eulogy."

"That's terrible." She spoke, sounding repulsed by at the same time trying to repress laughter.

"Life can sometimes be that way." I point out. Ahsoka lost her urge to laugh and laid her head on her hand.

"Why are so wrapped up in this rebellion thing? You don't seem like the kind of person to care about what others want."

"I do care, but you're right. There is an alternative motive to my madness, so to speak."

"What's that?" After my question, her eyes shift from peacefulness to coldness and anger.

"Revenge."

"Huh?" ...Is my response.

"I want revenge against that bastard Vader. Revenge for what he put me through. For how much he made me suffer. I wanna burn that traitor on a stake."

"If you don't mind me asking..." I try to sound polite (and not nervous) as I change the subject. "What was he like before he went to Hell?"

Ahsoka gets that offensive look again and she turns away. I try to get a word out, but she somehow senses me about to speak and cuts me off.

"Listen, this is a rather... personal subject for me. Can we please drop it?" He voices is kind of faint, but easy to hear over the surrounding silence.

"Personal?" I repeat. "Last night, I picked you up at a bar where you were stone drunk and crying. How do you top that?"

She doesn't do anything which surprises me. I patiently await for her to say something, and after a bit she speaks.

"I just don't want to talk about it."

"What's the harm? It's not like I'm gonna tell anybody."

"I don't want to!" She shouts after facing me.

"Why not?" By now, our voices were raising.

"I just told you!"

"You're a selfish jerk!"

"I don't care what you call me. I'm not telling you!

"Why not?"

"Why should I, you asshole?" I scramble my brain for a split-second.

"I'm driving! I'll crash the ship into a planet and kill us all!" I lower my voice trying sound like I'm not fucking around. I actually am, though.

"Fine! I'd rather die!" She screams, then turns from me furiously. For some reason, that cools down the argument between us. No more words are exchanged, and we sit in silence.

"I'm sorry." She says after a minute of awkwardness. "You shouldn't have heard that."

"Jeez, it sounded like you actually meant that. Did you?"

"It's just been such a rough life."

"Running out of options, are we?" I try not to sound like a first-class jackass with that last remark. It seems to work... for once. She lets out a dark, humorless chuckle.

"Let's just say there have been days where I didn't even feel like getting out of bed."

"I've gone there before. It totally sucks."

"Yeah. It does."

We stop talking for a few minutes. She looks at me, conflicting.

"Listen, I'll tell you what you want to know if you tell me what I want to know."

"Like what?"

"Hmm... Tell me about that group of yours. Start with- what's her name? Alea?"

"Yeah, that's it." I pause, trying to collect my thoughts about Alea. "Former masseuse turned slave turned bounty hunter. She's a real sweetheart. One of the nicest girls I've ever known. She's also a heck of a fighter. Specializes in nerve points, or more specifically, hitting them. It's from her masseuse days. Met her on one of my first assignments as a bounty hunter. She 'worked' for this family, can't remember the name."

"Worked?"

"You know..." Insert air quotations here. "'Worked?'"

"Oh, I see. That must have been hard for her."

"Yeah, I know she danced and did other things in that manner. Not sure about the touchy stuff, no pun intended. Anyway, she helped me kill the big boss and I offered a spot in my forming group. I guess she figured it was better than being a slave."

"OK... What about that Scope guy?"

"Jeez, where do I start? Well, I actually knew him before I became a bounty hunter. Nice and funny guy, had a wife and kid."

"What happened?"

"Said wife and kid was killed by the Empire. Kind of sad. He took work as a mercenary where I ran into him. He changed drastically since the last time I saw him."

"How?"

"Well, on the positive side, he became exceptional in weaponry and combat. He's also loyal to those he holds close, like yours truly. On the negative side, however, he became a humorless DICK! He was no-nonsense then, but now he's just one-dimensional. The only emotions he'll make these days is indifference and anger."

"Is that actually his name?" She asks bluntly, as I expected.

"I don't quite know. He says it is and that his mother called him that, but I don't believe him. I don't think he even knows his real name."

"Interesting. And Gidget? What kind of name is that anyway?"

"Her real name is Neema Gidethan."

"_Her?_ Gidget's a girl?"

"You couldn't tell?"

"Well, she's wearing a helmet and goggles. Plus, her voice is kind of..."

"Borderline between feminine and masculine?"

"Yeah, let's go with that."

"Yeah, she is a bit androgynous. Even I couldn't tell at first glance, especially with a name like Gidget. She says it's what her friends called her, and that it's a _portmanteau _of 'Girl' and 'Gadget.' Plus, it's spelled similar to her last name. Apparently, she was quite the tech wiz in school on her home planet of Raxus Prime, right before their economy went to hell that is. She lived on the streets for a few years until one day I caught her trying to steal from my ship. None of us had the heart to kill her, so we took her in."

"You took her in after she was caught stealing from your ship? That sounds familiar. Where have I heard that before?" She questioned herself.

"Yes, it is very clichéd. What can you do? Alright, I told you about my team, so fill me in." Silently groaning, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a holo. After handing it to me, reluctantly, I lit it up and made it reveal the still life of a young girl who I quickly came to recognize as Ahsoka along with a man appearing in his early 20's. His hand rested on Ahsoka's shoulder and he gave an aura of compassion. It was weird seeing Ahsoka in this scene. She was practically radiating innocence. Her head tails were shorter and she looked more energetic. Wonder what it would've been like to know her then...

I notice she restrains herself from looking at the holo, which kind of made me wonder what the point of carrying it around was.

"Wow." Really all I can muster. "Seems I was wrong."

"About what?"

"About him being a jackass."

"Oh, right."

"Yeah, so no hard feelings?"

"No. Don't worry about it."

"Good."

We wouldn't say much again after that. The rest of the trip would be uneventful until we finally reached Malastare. Then, trouble came on us like an unwanted pregnancy after a one-night stand.

"We've been scanned!" Gidget yelled over the intercom. "Weapon fire inbound!" Evidence of that was quickly discovered upon the shaking of the hull combined with a loud screeching sound.

"Oh, shit. That didn't sound good." I pointed out. Our damage readings showed fire in the engine and a lost wing, so flying was no longer an obligation. Again, I say "Oh, shit."

And so, as a great ball of fire in the sky, the _Medusa_ proceeded to fall through the atmosphere and zoom to the ground at high speed.

"Brace yourself, everybody. We're going in hot!" I yell through the intercom. After hitting and thrashing through the ground, water and mud flying everywhere, the ship comes to a loud, smoking halt and finally dies.

A sigh escapes my lips as I smack my head onto the controls. "Damn it. I just cleaned her."

* * *

"She's totaled. It's gonna take a while to fix." Said Gidget, after an extensive evaluation of what was left of the _Medusa._

"Right now, let's just be thankful we crashed on the right planet this time." Alea points out with faint optimism. I walk over to where Ahsoka's standing. She's eying the ship, with a rather disappointed look.

"You know." She finally says. "I'm not surprised this didn't hold together. It's a real piece of junk."

"It's a first class piece of junk." I counter.

"It has flames painted on it!"

"That was Gidget's idea." I hear Gidget move up from behind me to next.

"Actually I wanted to paint a cool looking silver dragon on it, but just like this ship, that wish was shot down in flames." She sounded miffed.

"You're still mad about that?" I asked her. "Get over it. At least we painted it like you wanted to."

"It would've looked so much cooler with a-" Cutting her off, a whistle sounded in the air as a spear flew over head and pierced the ship's hull. Talking stops immediately as we stare at the invading object.

"What the f-?" This time _I_ was cut off. Multiple spears flew in the air. Each landing dreadfully close to someone. Before anyone says anything, everyone's focus goes to glowing eyes seen in the trees. People know we're here, and they're coming for us.

"Attacked by angry natives." I head Alea whisper. "I know how that movie ends."


	5. Blood

**...And so after a short break and watching the season finale of SW: The Clone Wars, I'm continuing this story.**

**This is a short chapter, intentionally. Just to let some people (and myself) know I'm not dead.**

**Enjoy...or die.**

**Chapter 5: Blood**

"We know you're there. Come on out." I yelled, with a taste of fear.

"We come in peace!" Yells Gidget, reassuringly. I could tell she was just as nervous as I am. Everyone was. Nothing in the mission specs said anything about being attacked by angry natives.

Well, then again, the specs were classified.

"We know you do." A voice spoke some distance away, in a language only Dugs speak. Duh, we are on Malastare. From what I've heard, the Dug language isn't a required school course, so I'll just translate for you. The voice came from the Dug that just walked out of the jungle. He was decorated with jewels of various colors, most being dull and earth-based. They hung off the cloth that draped over his slanted head and covered his unusually proportioned body, and shook as he walked towards us. Compared to the other figures that were just stepping out of the brush, he was quite well represented and obviously a person of power. Chief of a tribe?

"They all come in peace, but, depending on their true intentions, most leave in pieces. What are you affiliated with?"

"The Rebel Alliance." Ahsoka clarified before I even got a chance to think of something to say. "We have a garrison here."

The "Chief" let out what sounded with a cocksure chuckle. At first I thought it was because he didn't believe Ahsoka, but it was actually for a much more grim indication.

"_Had _would be a much more suitable term, if you're referring to what's left of that little party just outside of our village."

"What happened to them?" Asked Alea, although I'm pretty sure the answer's obvious.

"Slaughtered!" Yep, that's what I thought. "Like animals! I swear there's a 3 inch pool of blood in that building." For someone describing a grisly battle scene, he didn't sound too unhappy, if you get what I mean.

"May we see?" Asked Ahsoka

"If you really want to, although I recommend leaving the youngling behind. I don't know much about the human psych, but I'm pretty sure she shouldn't see this. She and your friends can wait in the village."

"Gotcha." I turned to Gidget, who already wore a disappointed look behind her goggles. "Go to the village and wait for us."

"But-"

"No buts! You heard the nice whatever-the-hell-it-is. Go wait in the village!"

"Why should I?" She snapped back at me in a typical rebel yell.

"Because I'm the leader of this team. What I say, goes. When you're the leader of this team, you can do whatever the hell you want. Go. Now."

I couldn't tell what expression she was giving me, but I could tell she was not happy. She stormed off and followed the Dugs to the nearby village.

"Keep an eye on her. You know how she is." They needn't say a word, because they got what I mean. They trailed some distance behind the leaving group, while me and Ahsoka followed the Chief to the "crime scene."

* * *

...And a crime scene it was.

You could smell the stench of Death within 10 feet of the building, even past the strong aroma of nearby plants.

Inside was even worse: the walls was painted blood. Bodies lined the floor, some with simple but deep cuts that looked almost feral to severed body parts scattered about the concrete. The smell of the decaying and decayed was wretched and it gave me memories of that time I was trapped in a body bag inside a morgue. Funny story. I'll tell you sometime.

I looked at Ahsoka, expecting her to not even be phased by the gory scene. Quite the contrary, actually: Her breathing was heavy and she looked ghostly pale. She looked like she was about to pass out.

"You wanna leave?" I say with sympathy to her and put a hand on her shoulder. She shrugs it off, saying she feels fine. Disturbed, but fine. "I thought someone in your profession would see lots of blood." I pointed out, thinking of the multiple different myths of what a lightsaber can cut through. Over half have been proven false, but it was pretty obvious what it could cut through.

"Lightsabers are hot enough to immediately cauterize the wound upon impact, so there's little to no blood seen. Besides, it's not the blood. There's just so much... so much..."

"Blood?"

"No! Well yeah, but there's so much... darkness. I can feel it in the Force. Darkness and fury. Whoever did this was screaming hate."

"Yeah, hate's pretty apparent here." I muttered to myself while looking around. Desensitizing to the blood and bits lying around, I could look at things a little easier and more clearly. One thing I noticed was only one body was intact, and it was slouched on a computer with a plugged-in Holo. Walking up to the figure, I recognized it easily: The girl in the holo we got for the mission. Aside from a nasty cut on her stomach under her coat, she was pretty normal looking compared to everyone else.

"Hey, Ahsoka?" Upon hearing her name, she turned to see me holding up what was left of the poor girl. She seemed to recognize her, too, from the look of her face.

"Dead men tell no tales." I speak in a voice complete with doom. I couldn't decipher her reaction. It was somewhere between disgusted with my actions to a finding my actions darkly humorous. Either way, it was replaced with a questionable look.

"So whoever did all this used her to lure someone here, but who?"

"Well, whoever did this apparently has no love for the alliance. Maybe it just wanted to lure more here and finish the job? You sure it wasn't the Empire trying to wipe out resistance?"

"Lure unsuspecting victims to their fate and commit a bloody mass-murder? Doesn't seem like something the Empire would do." She roamed around the room, inspecting the corpses. "These cuts were made with a bladed weapon. Clean-cut steel. Imperial Stormtroopers doesn't use Mineral-made blades. Hell, they don't use _any_ kind of blade, only blasters. Only something that emits some kind of energy, and by all the blood around here, I'd say someone like Vader or some other rogue lightsaber user is out of the question.

"Local population?" I brought up.

"There's no one on this planet, or even in this system, that is against the Rebel Alliance. I doubt most know we even exist, yet."

"I'm getting nothing. Maybe it was just some raid gone bad. You know how Dugs are. Maybe even some bounty hunters."

"That seems most likely, but something like _this _could not have just gone wrong. These cuts are very precise, Dugs and bounty hunters just swing their blade like a blind madman and hope to get a lucky hit, not even intending to kill with it." She seemed to sense my reaction to that painfully stereotypical remark and said a quick "No offense" to me.

"None taken, but you're right. I admit that I only use my blade as a last resort. I sure as hell wouldn't use it as a first choice to take out a whole room full of blaster armed rebels. Not that I couldn't, mind you. Only if I was bone dry of ammunition and my hands were broken. You know, it could've been some wild animal. Aren't Nexu found on this planet?" I asked while she took a step outside through the side door.

"Yep, espessially around areas with high activity. A pack probably found their way in and slashed this place to Kingdom come. But that doesn't explain the-" She stopped speaking suddenly, catching my attention. I ran out to find her and my eyes immediatley fell on the southern-most wall which featured a large message... in blood.

"How did we miss that?" She didn't hear me, her gaze focusing with intent on the short, sweet and to-the-point message:

_COME FIND ME_

_I DARE YOU!_

...Complete with an arrow pointing into the mist-covered jungle.


	6. Mud

Chapter 6

Mud

Ahsoka and I decided the message was worth investigating, although I would describe it more as "humoring," similar to what Ahsoka said earlier. After all, it was a message written in blood telling to walk into a fog laced jungle where all kinds of parasites and creatures lurk. I'm nervous enough to feel my bones rattle, but Ahsoka is surprisingly stoic about the whole ordeal. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she had been here before. Wait, I don't know any better. She could've lived here for all I know. I notified my team of our current goal and instructed Gidget to keep working on the ship. She got over our little spiff, by the way. She's 13 years old.

No vehicle for us, we aren't that lucky. The ship is still in disarray, and we decided against using cattle. I don't know why we did, but we did. So, we're just gonna hoof it, so to speak. Half way into our trek, we decided hoofing it was as bad an idea as they come. For one thing, we had a hell of a time trying to walking through all the muck and mud. We both expressed our fortune on having thought to wear boots on this particular day. Second of all, the bugs (or any other various species of God knows what) were constantly annoying us. Another factor I failed to take into consideration happened when we wandered onto something that looked like a road, but it was actually vegetation worn down by constantly being run over. I completely forgot it was Podracing season for Malastare. I remembered because I used to constantly bet on races here. I was actually pretty good at it, something I got from my dad.

Don't think I ever told you about my dad. Two things I remember about him: He was a hell of a gambler and a bit of a womanizer. You think those two traits spell a bad family? Wrong. Fucking love my dad. As soon as I turned 12, we'd drunk together and have some wicked fun. He taught me to shoot my first blaster at 13 and taught me the art of gambling the next day. My dad's fucking awesome. I know I got the gambling thing from him, but I was never good at the womanizing thing. Truth be told, I didn't lose my virginity until I was 22.

Where was I? It was podracing season here and we were walking on one of the tracks. I had a feeling they were gonna come down the track any second now and slash us to bits and pieces, but then I remembered that the Empire banned Podracing from all sectors. Damn them. One of the reasons I took up bounty hunting was because I couldn't make money off of podracing anymore. Life's a bitch like that.

"This is getting so unbearable." I hear Ahsoka complain next to me, interrupting my seemingly endless train of thought. She's using her saber to cut though a thick sheet of vines. By now the mud was literally up to our waist.

"I know. It's like trying to walk though a giant fat kid." That crack wasn't meant to be a joke, but I still heard Ahsoka snicker at it. I laughed a bit myself as we finally got out of the mud, but it ends as soon as I feel something move in my boot. Despite myself, I scream and jump around, trying to get whatever it is out. Ahsoka, alarmed, pulls her saber and gets ready to fight. Thankfully, I managed to reach in and pull it out. It's just a small creature that looks like a mix between a leech and a mudskipper. I honestly feel kind of stupid for freaking out about it. I hold it up to my face and smirk.

"You're not so bad, aren't you? You little—"Next thing I know I see a quick flash of light and a second later I'm holding one part of a bisected creature in my hand. The very next second I drop it, and recoil back seeing Ahsoka's lightsaber just put back at her side.

"What the hell was that about?"

"What you were just holding in commonly known as a Mud Maggot, which are an extremely rare type of parasite only found on Malastare at night. They can inject a deadly neurotoxin known as Saxitoxin that can cause paralysis on your entire body, including your respiratory system. If that were to bite you, you would be stone dead in exactly 17 seconds." She told me this while so calm and stoic that I bet she could sense the rising fear in me that would soon reach a boiling point. That thing could've killed me in seconds, and I held it inches away from my face.

I don't believe this. I survive 2 wars, 3 riots, being imprisoned by the Empire, being shot at countless times (Actually being hit a couple times), a savage beating by bikers, falling of a Coruscant skyscraper and pissing off an emotionally unstable Jedi; And the one thing that even comes close to killing me is a fucking worm! An extremely rare worm that only comes out at night on one particular planet!

"…And you'd think someone in your profession would be a little more cautious of the area around them." I was so busy whining in my head, I barely noticed Ahsoka was still talking. I regained my composure and spoke up, interrupting her.

"Thanks." That was all I said while trying to regain my composure. She smiled, indicating that it was all she wanted.

"Please be more careful. I don't want to be the one to tell Gidget her only father figure was killed by a worm."

I suppose I ought to thank her for the fact that she cares but I'm not going to. I just agree with her. "Let's just clean this mud off" I say.

* * *

"I guess that's what we're looking for." I pointed out about a rather small village and surrounded by fog, It was the picture of places people should NOT go into, but we're going to do it anyway, curiosity be praised and caution be damned. I won't lie, though. I'm a bit nervous. Sure, I can kill people for a profit, but fog-laced villages are a big no-no for me.

"You know, you can wait out here if you want to." I hear Ahsoka say. I can just as easily hear the taunting in her voice as well. Damn it, she knows.

"Nah, I'll join you. You could probably use someone to look after your back. Who knows what's in there? Thieves, bandits and whatnot ready to ambush." A small intermission of silence passes before she talks.

"Do you have a spare blaster I can borrow?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well, with what you said when we were back at the outpost, we don't know if it's the Empire or not. If it is, and they find out I'm a Jedi, it's not gonna go over well for me or you, especially me. Do you have any idea what they'll do if they manage to catch either one of us?"

"I see your point." With that I hand her one I hung on the left side of my belt. She attaches it to her belt and hides the saber in her boot. "You know how to use it right?" I ask.

"Of course I do! You think that just because I'm a girl we can't use blasters? We proved that myth wrong a long time ago."

"N-no! It's just I always thought that Jedi favor lightsabers over blasters."

"We do, but there are times where we have to resort to using them in certain situations. It always helps to be prepared, especially if you're in charge of keeping peace in the galaxy. In fact, I was one of the best shots among my peers."

"Of course you were. It has nothing to do with being a girl. I know that. You're strong, and a confident women. Why'd you bring that up anyway?"

"I ran into a situation like that before with a new recruit who acted a bit like you. He made a smart-ass remark about me not knowing how to handle a blaster."

"What'd you do?"

"I beat him up. Bare-handedly. Like I did with you. His bones were nothing but bits and pieces by the time he learned his lesson." I cringed at those words before I carefully chose my next thing to say

"Well, don't you worry. Brutus Bane ain't sexist. Sexy, maybe, but not sexist. If I had a girl like you, you'd be making most of the decisions in the relationship and I can respect that" She stared at me for a couple seconds after that last sentence.

"What?" I asked.

"If you had a girl like me, we'd being living in an alternate universe where… Wookies spoke English and the Empire was actually loved by the people it ruled over." I'm not going to argue with that one, because she's sort of right. I'm not going to give her the satisfaction of knowing that though. After our delightful conversation we move on to the village.

* * *

Honestly, the inside doesn't do much justice to the house either. It's just as run-down and decrepit as the outside. There are signs, however, that people is living here. Candles are lit and there are mutilated corpses of different species lying on nearby tables, gutted out for their meat and hide. While it may sound like a savage's den, it's not too imposing. Simply, looks like someone moved in here quite recently. I could be right on the fact that bandits (or most likely pirates) live here. Although why they're on Malastare, I have no idea. Nothing to scavenge for but mud and methane.

Careful as to not wake anyone that could be in here, we creep our way though outside of eyesight. Hiding behind a tent made of some kind of animal hide, I pull out my knife to cut a small hole through the fabric and peek inside. Men lying on a bed with a dog on the floor next to them are the sights I'm greeted with. I try to expand the tear a bit to get a better view of anything within the tent, when the dog's ears perk up and his eyes open. After knocking off the sleep almost instantly, he quickly catches sight of me and growls, teeth bared.

Fearing the owners of said dog may awaken as well, I fall back to regroup with Ahsoka. Before we get the chance to meet, the dogs start barking, waking everyone in the whole dang camp. In just a matter of moments, the camp is swarming of people looking for intruders.

Sneaking away would have been futile due to the entire surrounding area being an open field before the tree line. We could start a fight but then we'd have to kill them and I'm itching for answers on why they laid that outpost to waste. So, I end up doing the most logical (By logical I mean sensible, not intelligent. This was NOT a smart move by any means) and come out of hiding.

"Okay, okay, you caught me." Hands in the air I stepped out of my hiding spot and, as expected, everyone set their weapon sights on me. Unexpectedly, they didn't fire.

"Who're you?" A big, burly guy growled out. Looks like a Feeorin.

"Bane. Brutus Bane."

"The Bounty Hunter?" He pointed out

"Yep."

"But I thought his skin was blue?"

"_Brutus _Bane. You know, the Space Dogs?"

"Oh yeah. I've heard of them." With a nod of his head, two of his men moved up to me and searched me. Taking my blaster and my combat knife.

"So, I assume you're the boss 'round here?" I questioned the big man. Seriously, that guy must have been taller than Scope.

"Yeah. So?"

"Just curious." She took the signal and within 3 seconds after I spoke she had the boss man in a headlock with a blaster pointed at his temple. His men immediately turned to shoot, although some kept on me, only to be stopped by a frantic boss.

"Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" He yelled, being that his body completely covered any hope of hitting Ahsoka.

"Yeah, I wouldn't shoot. Chances are your gonna miss me and hit him, and that'll be the last mistake you'll ever make." Her voice was so sinister that it was hard to tell if she was bluffing.

"How about we work out a truce?" I say to the boys and girls. They look at me undecided but reluctant, then turn to their boss. He slowly nods affirmative and they lower their weapons. Upon being sure I was out of harm's way, I signaled to Ahsoka to keep her end of the deal. She did so by releasing her hold and lowering the blaster.

It all went well so far, and I thought we could work this out nice and peacefully. Sadly, that wasn't meant to be. Almost instantly after Ahsoka pushed the boss man out of her reach, I caught sight of something in the air, speeding towards Ahsoka's position, a rusty but still razor-sharp vibro-axe over its head. The Tortuga Jedi sensed it and barely managed to jump out of the way before it stabbed the ground. After it landed I could see it a trifle more clearly. The figure was a little shorter than Ahsoka, but much more agile and strong enough to swing that vibro-axe as if it were a bat made of plastic. Couldn't see it's face very well, though.

It quickly, yet fiercely, pulled the weapon out of the muck and swung it 180, knocking Ahsoka's blaster out of her hand. Followed after the spin was a hard kick to her mid-section, stumbling her and finally knocking her down. The finishing blow, a full swing to the neck which would have decapitated her instantly, stopped mere inches from her neck after the boss yelled "WAIT!"

"Calm down, kiddo. We got us a truce goin' on. Put it down."

"But—"

"Now."

"She tried to kill you! They can't kill you! Not allowed to kill you!" She glares back at Ahsoka and pushes the blade into her neck, drawing blood. "You will not kill!" The voice was clearly feminine, shaking and sounded awfully young.

"I'm alive, aren't I?" He said, sympathetic. More sympathetic than I ever expected a big guy like him to ever sound. He spoke softly and cautiously, like talking to a kid having a violent tantrum. "We'll be fine. Put the axe away and calm down."

"NO! They hate us. They all hate us. Well, I'll show them how much I hate them!" With that, she raised the Vibro-axe into the air. Before finishing her strike, Ahsoka swept the girl off her feet with a kick of her own, before flipping back onto hers and pulling the saber out of her boot. The girl just as quickly followed suit after regaining her posture and stood a fighting stance, but all the fight left her eyes upon looking at Ahsoka once more. Instead, they filled with curiosity and stared at her lit saber.

"A lightsaber?" Her frail-sounding voice spoke, increasing with intensity with each coming sentence. "You have a lightsaber? No, regular people don't deserve lightsabers! Only special people!"

"Special?" A perplexed Ahsoka quipped. "You mean Jedi?"

"No! _Special! _Are you special? You don't appear to be…"

"I am a Jedi, if that's what you're asking." She lowered her saber, but only slightly, as the Girl lowered her weapon.

"But they're dead. All dead. I saw it all myself. All no more, because _they _killed them. The first of many victims for them. Last to live, but first to die before the New Order. The New Order ended it all. " She put a lot of emphasis on the word _New Order, _and reaped the ground with her axe with each time she said it.

"You mean the Empire? I know. I was there, too. I saw my friends cut down by-" She looked like she was about say something, but another thing seems to have caught her interest. "You were there? Are you… a Jedi?"

"You're not listening." She said, irritated. "No more Jedi. What's left is not Jedi, but simply different. Different and special. I'm different. I'm special. My name is Karelia."

* * *

**This chapter was particarly difficult to write. See, I had it all planned out, and I had written most of it. A virus screwed my computer, though, and I had to clean it. I forgot to move my work to a different folder and lost all of it. When I had gone to write it again, it bugged me because it looked so clichéd and unoriginal. So I did it again, entirely from scratch, and I'm much happier with this result.**

**Just so you know, I got the name Karelia from the song Ghost of Karelia by Mastodon. Turns out, Karelia is a small area of land between Finland and Russia. Wicked.**

**Thanks for reading. Review if you've got the time. Don't steal anything on your way out.**


	7. When The Night Falls

Darkest Days

Chapter 7:  
When The Night Falls…

"We're not pirates, or mercenaries or anything like that. We're just a bunch of people trying to find out way in this utterly fragged-up galaxy of ours."

"…And you thought Malastare was safe?"

"Safe as in: 'Out of the Empire's all-seeing eye.'"

"Hmm, guess that would make sense."

The conversation between me and the Big Boss (Real name Fenri Olen) and most of his party went on like that for about a half-hour. Introductions, history and the usual "trusting with secrets between thieves" bit were shared by both sides. All while eating damn good meat in front of a fire pit.

The only two who didn't bother partaking in the discussion were Ahsoka and the mysterious girl named Karelia, who were busy talking between each other about… Not a clue. I assumed at first they were catching up from their Jedi days, but considering the fact that they were both glaring at each other (Karelia especially)and at one point said girl actually broke into tears leaving Ahsoka to comfort her awkwardly, it was pretty obvious that wasn't going on. Fenri and I actually found ourselves glancing back to make sure one didn't kill the other.

"So… What's the story about the girl?" You have no clue how long I've been waiting to ask that question. Wait, I just told you: A half hour. Maybe a little longer.

"Her name's Karelia. She was a Jedi. Found her on some planet, can't remember which. She actually saved us from an Empire Scouting team. We offered to bring her along, mainly 'cause we like the protection. Plus we felt kind of bad for her. That was maybe a year or so ago."

"Why?" I asked, surprised by the fact that I was actually into the story.

"Jeez, you should've seen her then. She was like 16 or 17 then, but she acted like she was 8. She was constantly crying, she had temper tantrums, she grew WAY too attached to that lightsaber of hers to the point where she refused to use it in battle because she thought it would break."

"I take it she's got a… few screws loose then?"

"At first, but she's getting a lot better. Well, different at least."

"Different, how?"

"She replaced most of that sadness with… hatred. Hatred towards everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, outside of this group. She's gotten a lot quieter, but a little more unpredictable." He glanced over at the girls, still talking to each other. "That's the calmest I've ever seen her with a stranger."

"That can't be healthy." I point out "Mr. Obvious" style.

"I agree. The toll taken on her is painfully noticeable. Most days, she fine, if not a little down-trodden. Some days, she paces around, muttering to herself and sounding like a mad preacher. The worst cases happen extremely rarely, when she gets these violent impulses and just disappears for a while. Usually ranges from a couple hours to two days at most."

"Any idea what she does?" Answer was pretty apparent, though.

"Let's just say I know what you and your lady friend are here for."

It was hard placing all this together, but the answer at the end was crystal clear. Karelia was indeed responsible for the Rebel base massacre. The problem, however, was deciding what to do. Do we turn her in, let it slip and hope it never happens again or try to fix this problem?

"Now that you know, what are ya gonna do?"

"I'm not a cop or anything. I'm a bounty hunter. We were sent here to investigate a mysterious transmission, not avenge a murder or solve a crime. As far as I'm concerned, this mystery is solved, but I'll run it by Ahsoka and see what she thinks."

"Works for me." He said, slouching in relief. "When are you gonna report to you team?"

"We'll get on that later. It's not like they're expecting us anytime soon. Hell, they'd be a little suspicious if we reported in too early." We both shared a chuckle at that, but all light-hearted feelings were washed away upon hearing a menacing hiss of a whisper in my right ear that darn near made my heart stop.

"All talk and no do is neither a good offense nor defense." I jumped a bit and looked to my right, which is where I _thought _I heard it, but then noticed she moved to my left and sat on the grass next to me. From the light of the fire, I could see her a lot clearly. She was indeed young, maybe a bit older than Gidget but younger than Alea. She looked human, but her actual appearance made me doubt that. Her hair was almost as short as mine and was totally white. Her skin is remarkably pale and her eyes are dull and listless. She has no color on her whatsoever.

"What happened to talking?" I asked.

"I don't know. It just seems like doing is much more rewarding—"

"No, I mean 'what happened to talking with Ahsoka?'"

"She got bored." I heard Ahsoka say behind me, clearly vexed at the girl.

"I expected a conversion with another special girl to be interesting. Not my fault. Yours." She replied nonchalantly. I could Ahsoka was not taking kindly to that, so I steer the conversation to a different topic (You should have seen the relieved look on Fenri's face. Classic, man.)

"So, it seems that…"

"I know." She beat me to it. "She told me." The surprised look on my face probably helped her answer my upcoming question. "She told me she has faint memories of killing them, but doesn't really remember doing it."

"Blurry. All lost in a haze." Karelia muttered to herself, twiddling her fingers. We ignored her (or at least tried to) and Ahsoka continued on.

"Normally, I would be dead set on making whoever murdered those rebels pay, but…" It was easy to tell she had trouble saying the answer we all saw coming.

"…But you don't want to further the Jedi's already dwindling numbers." I filled in.

"Yeah."

"I can sympathize that. So what now? We call the mission a success?"

"That seems like the most logical thing to do."

"How do we make sure it won't happen again?" Ahsoka looked towards Fenri.

"How long are you gonna be here?" He seemed a bit hesitant to answer, probably for fear of making her mad.

"Well, we actually took a vote before you came here. We like it here. Safe from the Empire, plenty of resources. We're close to making a deal of mutual living with the Dugs. Aside from the wild animals here, this place is damn near perfect for us."

"Well… that was the only garrison of the Alliance on Malastare. We can afford to go without this planet. All it has is mud, methane, and a bunch of jackass Dugs." She looked at Karelia, still sitting next to me, head down and fingers intersected. "As long as they're not part of the alliance, let her kill whoever the hell she wants on this planet." That last sentence surprised me quite a bit. I expected a girl like to want to fix the problem in its entirety, but she seems ok with just not letting it happen to her friends. Burn on the people that say Jedi don't like to compromise.

"So…" She said after a bit of silence, looking at Fenri. "You got a vehicle you can spare?"

"Let me guess: You don't want to walk through the swamp again?" He grinned at her irritated reaction, but she finally sighed and gave in.

"Yes. Do you have one?"

"Yeah, we can spare one. Won't work 'till tomorrow morning. We gotta fix the engine."

"And don't forget we're still stuck here until Gidget can fix the ship." I put in.

"Sleep here, if you want. You can use the speeder to get back to your ship tomorrow morning."

"Fine." She said, though she sounded like she couldn't give a flying flag about it.

"When's morning here?" I asked after looking at the violet sky.

"Soon as you wake up." He cracked, and left to his tent for the night. Karelia followed suit, but we didn't even notice until we saw her gone. I looked at Ahsoka.

"So, you cool with all this?"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, she's a Jedi, or at least was. I expected you to be all over this."

"Believe me, I've thought about it. I would love to have her join the Alliance, but she safe here. Out of the Empire's sight. Plus, she's happy here." She sat down on a log next to me.

"So did you know her?"

"Yep. She was a Youngling around the time I was Skywalker's apprentice. I remember seeing her around the Temple."

"Was she always like this?"

"I don't know. I never really got a chance to meet her until now. She seemed normal though. Something must have really traumatized her for her to turn out that way."

"Probably the Jedi massacre."

"I imagine. She's what, 17 now? She would have been 8 or 9 years old when the massacre happened. That must have been extremely difficult for her. The fact that she survived is a miracle in itself. Who knows where she went afterwards, what she had to go through after all that? Poor girl."

"Yeah…"

"One thing's bugging me though." She suddenly brought up.

"What's that?"

"If she went to all the trouble of killing those rebels, why'd she send out a transmission to us? That was a really risky move that could've attracted the attention of the Empire."

"I stick by the belief that she wanted to attract more of them so she could kill them." I said.

"But why? If it was just an episode of violence, why further it? It couldn't have gone for that long. Plus, there's no telling when she's have another one."

"Maybe she _knew _she was going to have another one. Maybe she expected them to come so she could do it again when she… Damn, this getting confusing. Listen, the mission's over. You said so yourself."

"I guess."

"No harm, no foul. Now, let's get some sleep."

"Fine."

* * *

Night, or at least this planet's equivalent of night, has fallen. Both Brutus and Ahsoka had turned in, but while Brutus lay sleeping in front of the dead fire pit, Ahsoka laid awake in the tent she slept in. Running explanations of this whole event through her head, so distracted was she that she failed to notice a mysterious figure silently work its way past a sleeping Brutus and into her tent. It wasn't until the figure stood over her bed that Ahsoka let out a gasp that was quickly silenced with a hand over the mouth.

"No need for anyone to hear us, dear Ahsoka." Ahsoka quickly recognized the voice as Karelia, sounding surprisingly stable. She calmed herself (but stayed alert) before the girl spoke again. "Come with me. Perhaps we can have a little… talk?" She spoke with a touch of evil.

Against her better judgment, Ahsoka complied and followed the girl out of her tent and into the misty swamp.

* * *

I woke up to find myself leaning very uncomfortably against the log I fell asleep on. My back was stiff as hell when I got up. Perhaps, sleeping on the ground wasn't the best idea. Not only is it uncomfortable and dirty, but I could've been bit by more of those Mud Maggots. Jeez, that was careless.

"Ugh, my back." I muttered to myself as I stretch in hopes of loosening myself up. The fire pit was dead and blackness still lurked over the surrounding area. Great, I was fully awake and I still couldn't see my hand in front of my face. Why did I wake up again… Oh yeah, I heard something move around. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a light. The area a little more illuminated, I found that the entrance to Ahsoka's tent was open and that she herself was nowhere to be found. Missing. Vanished. That figures.

"Great. Now what?" I'm probably gonna have to go into the jungle/swamp to find her. Was it really worth it, though? Wandering into a foggy jungle full of dangorous creatures...at night? I can't even think of a smart remark to go with that. I was saved from answering myself when I heard a beeping sound in my pocket.

"How long has this been going off?" I wondered, pulling out my Transmitter. Turning it on, I first found silence, then a dim hologram of Alea, looking frantic.

"_Brutus? Finally! I've been trying to reach you for hours!"_

"Sorry. Things got weird here. What's wrong?"

"_Get back here. We got a problem."_

**No excuses this time. I'm a lazy bastard. ****I'm seeing a pattern here, though. Expect the next chapter around 2 months. **


	8. A Touch of Evil

**Ha! It worked. I fooled myself into thinking it would take 2 months to write this, but it took a little less than a month. Take that, me! I suck _and_ I rule!  
On that note, this chapter was so hard to right, it's almost unholy. There might be a little confliction, but hopefully I fixed that up.**

Darkest Days  
Chapter 8  
A Touch of Evil

"Empire?" I asked, beside myself with a mixture of confusion and "how-come-this-stuff-always-happens-to-us?"

"Yep. Scope did a little recon. Turns out, there's an Empire garrison a couple of clicks from our position. He also found some Anti-Orbital guns upon further investigation. Assuming they think the crew survived the landing, they're probably looking for us."

"Have they discovered you yet?" I asked, concerned for their safety. Okay, I'm lying. I'm just curious.

"No."

"Good, then we still have time. Tell Gidget to get that ship repaired ASAP. As soon as it can fly, get to our position. We have to get off this planet as soon as possible, preferably without them knowing of our presence."

"Why can't you walk back here? It'll be stealthier."

"Well….." I began without thinking things through. She looked at me with irritation, an emotion I've come to recognize on her many times.

"You lost Ahsoka, didn't you?"

"It's not my fault this time! She wandered off into the swamp with that freaky Karelia girl."

"Well find her, damn it! We don't have—Wait, who?"

"Oh, you know that message where someone controlled the rebel corpse like a puppet?"

"Yeah?"

"Found the puppet master. Her name's Karelia. She's young, insane, and a former Jedi like Ahsoka."

"Oh." She said, following with a short, but stiff silence between us. "Is that a… good thing?"

"Doubt it. She doesn't seem like the kind of person who would want to have a nice conversation in a dark swamp. Probably wants to kill her for some psychotic reason."

"Oh… that sucks."

"Yes, it does… All right, so you'll—"

"—tell Gidget to get her ass in gear. Got it."

"Good. See ya then."

"Bye." With that, the transmission cut and I was left to my own thoughts. It's not that I don't like Ahsoka and want her to die. It's just that going to look for her in this place is irrational and not a smart move. I could be attacked by Nexu or angry Dugs or… Mud Maggots. Damn those things. Poor Ahsoka will have to fend for herself and try to survive. If she doesn't…

"Oh well. Life goes on." I said to myself as I walked away from the burned out campfire to go find that Speeder Fenri was talking about. Maybe I can go repair it myself and save time.

"Well… except for her, maybe." I finished, almost against my will.

* * *

Into the swamp the two girls went, one girl more reluctant than the other. She saw every disadvantage in this. She didn't know Karelia's skill ability (or intention for that matter), she was clueless to the land around her, and she didn't know how to retaliate should Karelia decide to do the thing Ahsoka assumed she would do.

"Where are we going?" Ahsoka asked the pale girl.

"Nowhere important." She replied in an ominously giddy manner, as if she were completely unaware of the looming darkness around her.

"What do you want to talk to me about?" Was her next question. Karelia again seemed uninterested by it but this time face the Tortuga, annoyance barely noticeable on her shadow-shrouded face.

"We can't just talk?" She asked, head slightly titled to the side. "I figured you'd want to have a nice conversation since you look so stressed." She turned and began walking again. Ahsoka grit her teeth, but calmed herself and decided to shift the conversation to a topic that bugged her more.

"Your speech sounds so much better. Were you faking it the whole time?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do. Fragmented sentences? Frantic muttering—"

Karelia suddenly stopped, interrupting Ahsoka, and stood still. Next time she spoke, she didn't even bother faking the happy tone that was apparent on her voice earlier. Instead she added a much more sinister and malicious tone.

"Ah, I see you've met the Other Karelia." With just that, she began walking again, leaving a perplexed Ahsoka in her place.

"Other… Karelia?"

"The other half of my mind to be exact." She ceased walking and took a seat on a large boulder, stretching herself and sitting in an informal manner. "You see, dear Ahsoka, my mind has been traumatized enough to be involuntarily split in two due to the tragic events that are Order 66, or the Jedi Massacre, if you wish."

Ahsoka was dumbstruck at all this, but still managed to find the next words.

"H-how?"

"That I cannot tell you. I'm not good with that kind of thing. It just… happened, for lack of a better phrase. I remember the very moment: Asleep in my room, I awoke to the sound to laser fire and screams. Before I could even comprehend what was going on, my friend rushed into my room. A Tortuga like you, her name was Aldeema. She was my very best friend. She told me what was happening, and fast as we could, we made for the entrance. Mere feet away from freedom, we were stopped by a clone trooper."

Ahsoka let in a huge breath of air, realizing she forgot to breathe. Karelia noticed this, and let out a little giggle resembling a girl half her age. To her own surprise, Ahsoka blushed at that.

"Anyways, without any weapons we didn't stand a chance. Well… _she _didn't stand a chance. She was shot—no, scratch that, riddled with holes right in front of me."

"How did you survive?"

"Didn't. Got killed." The girl laughed a small bit before realizing she was the only one doing so. She regained her composure and moved on.

"A nearby Jedi decapitated the trooper before he shot at me, allowing me to run off. Alone for maybe 2 months, I wandered the planet and had plenty of time to do plenty of thinking, remembering and crying. Thinking about why this happened, remembering the corpses of my friends and my friend being shot down and crying over what I did to deserve this. I was not in good condition. One day, I was trying to get off the planet, so I stowed away on the first ship I could find. An Ambassador's ship going to Telos IV, if I remember right. Next thing I know, I fell asleep. Don't remember waking up. Everything was blackness until I found myself on another planet with a stolen blaster in my hand. After a few more times where I found myself in an unfamiliar situation without remembering anything I began to get a little suspicious, but ignored it for a couple years. Big mistake.

"I paid a visit to a medical clinic when it got so bad I was afraid to go to sleep. He ran a test on me and told me that my mind was repressing trauma to the point where it just split in half. I developed a split personality disorder. One side is the girl who just simply refused to believe that that massacre even happened and lived her life in a haze of denial, which was rather harshly broken by some poor fool who was later found in pieces in the engine of a ship. Since then, she's just become a ghost of her former self."

"Which side are you?" Ahsoka asked. Karelia looked offended.

"I _am_ that side."

"Then who-?"

"The other Karelia is just a poor girl who's just been beaten down and broken, but still tries to move on with her life. She wandered here and found this place herself. The girl who never left 8 years old."

"Who's the more dominant side?"

"She is, as of recently. I just stopped bothering to fight back. She's happy here and I want to keep her happy. She is me, after all. You see that, right dear Ahsoka?"

"Yeah, I can- Wait. How do you remember my name if you talked to me as… Other Karelia?" She practically had to force that last part out of her mouth. "Didn't you say you black out during those phases?"

"We both remember our Temple days, espessially you. Everyone talked about you. Ahsoka Tano, padawan of the great Anakin Skywalker. The same Skywalker who became Darth Vader. The same Skywalker who ordered the Clones to kill not just the Jedi, but my best friend. Do you see where I'm going with this?"

_Shit. I think I do. _Ahsoka heard herself think, but decided against saying anything and letting the girl finish by just nodding. Instead, she checked to make sure her saber was still at her side. When she felt nothing, she panicked for a split-second before remembering it was in her boot.

"That's why I lured you out here."

_Lured? _Ahsoka thought as Karelia finally lost her false joyful expression and looked towards Ahsoka with pure and utter malice.

"I'm not sure _what _role you had in turning Skywalker to the dark, but I know_ damn well _you had something to do with it." She hissed through her teeth. She got to her feet and glared at Ahsoka. "Because of you," She pointed at the girl, "Everyone I know and love is gone. My best friend is dead! I'm nothing but a _fucking_ street rat with memories of the bloody corpses of my friends and my home up in flames on one side of my mind and total blackness on the other _thanks to you_!" The intensity and anger, along with shakiness, of her voice increased with each passing word. She looked as if she would either attack Ahsoka in feral rage or break down in tears by the time she was done talking.

"But I didn't do any of that, you little psychopath!" Ahsoka countered, not at all regretting the insult spat out in anger. "You really think I would do something like that? The Jedi were my friends, too! It's all Vader's fault. And still, if you look past him, there's the Emperor that corrupted him in the first place. Take your rage out on him! Or… Vader's wife, Padme. Spit on her grave if you want to, but why are you taking it out on me? I wasn't even at the Temple during the massacre!"

"Where were you anyways?" She asked, voice toned down marginally. Ahsoka was caught off-guard by the question and had to think before she answered. Neither girl liked the answer that came out of the Tortuga's mouth.

"Padme's." Immediately after her forced answer, she heard a familiar hiss. Karelia had activated her lightsaber.

"Wait!" Ahsoka yelled, desperate to avoid any conflict. "Don't forget about your teachings! Jedi never attack in hatred. Do you really want to forsake the legacy you lost?" Karelia smirked.

"Good thing the Jedi are dead." With that she went on the attack, blade aimed for Ahsoka's neck.

**Again, expect the next chapter in two months. *Wink*  
I am also in the concept of developing a story for the Powerpuff Girls. Hopefully, It'll be as good as this story. If anyone reading is a fan of the PPG's, keep on the look out for it.  
~Lit.**


	9. Who's Life Is It Anyways?

**First things first: I apologize for the delay. I've actually decided, due to schoolwork and other life occurences that keep piling on, to make this a side interest. Updates will be random occurences, instead of following a pattern of 2 months, but I'm not done with this fic. Not by a long shot.**

**Enjoy.**

Darkest Days  
Chapter 9:  
Who's Life Is It Anyways?

"Engine's online. Primary and secondary thrusters are working, so we should be able to take flight. Shields are online. Weapons are still inactive, but not totally lost. The Hyper jump module is damaged, but we probably won't have to worry about that if we manage to slip out inconspicuously, right?"

"I've never been one for taking chances. Do what you can on it." Scope ordered the junior mechanic, who saluted and went immediately to work on it. He was just about to light up a cigarette until he saw Alea walking up to him, a mixed expression on her face.

"What's up? You reach Brutus and Ahsoka, yet?"

"Well, I reached Brutus. Ahsoka, apparently, isn't there. She went missing with some girl named Karelia, who's a former Jedi. She's also the one who murdered the rebels and led us here."

"That ain't good. Ahsoka could be in a bit of trouble."

"Ahsoka can handle it, I'm sure." Scope offered her a cigarette. She refused. "How're repairs on the ship going?"

"Well, in the condition it's in now, we're better off stealing a ship from the Empire garrison. Flying this thing is no different than flying a cargo ship."

"But, isn't it already a cargo ship?"

"You know what I mean." He shot back, losing his patience. Alea chuckled lightly at this. After some time spent listening to Gidget make repairs, Alea spoke once more.

"Brutus wants us to get the ship to his position instead of us waiting for him to sneak back. Sacrifice stealth for time."

"I suppose that'll work. Plus, there's a chance the Empire might not see us. If we keep the weapons and main engine power toned down and use reserve power, we should be able to fly under the radar. Get out before they even notice us."

"...And if they _do _notice us?"

"Our only chance of escape relies on if Gidget can fix the Hyper jump."

Scope thought about asking Alea if he could contact Brutus until noticeable commotion was heard in the village. Instructing Gidget to remain with the ship, the soldier and the Twi'Lek ran to the village to see the Chief and his followers taking with a smaller Dug, who itself was frantic. The Dug silenced itself upon seeing the interlopers. Alea spoke to the chief in it's primary language.

"What's going on?" The Chief straightened itself and replied in a foreboding manner.

"He says he saw an Empire squad movement coming this way. They're approaching fast."

"How long?" Alea asked. Before a reply was made, the frantic Dug dropped to the ground suddenly, unmoving. A quick moment of confusion surround the group before Scope, thanks to his years serving wit the Naboo Royal Guard, realized what happened.

"SNIPER! CLEAR THE AREA NOW!" Immediately post-yell, the group scrambled to safety, only one other Dug being shot down. Once Scope and Alea were under cover, they pulled out their choice of arms (A rifle for Scope and a silenced blaster for Alea) and conversed in a loud, harsh whisper, Alea starting.

"Empire found us already? They aren't that fast with mobilizing."

"They must have a jungle transport or something. What I don't get is why they shot that dug instead of two obviously dangerous-looking humanoids..."

"We shouldn't flatter ourselves, we probably were just a couple of pirates to them. Besides, I bet they thought the Dug hadn't given us the information yet. Little late there." She smirked.

"Perhaps. Come on. We gotta get back to the ship. Hopefully Gidget can use it to get us to Brutus and Ahsoka then off this rock. Use the tents for cover, move in short bursts and keep your head down until we reach the jungle."

* * *

Endless slashing and clashing commenced between the two girls, one doing more slashing than the other. Ahsoka found it surprisingly difficult to defend the relentless attacks made by the pale girl. She would strike fast enough for Ahsoka to not be able to counter, and even resorted to using crude techniques like punching, low kicks and yanking her tails. It's as if she treated this like a street fight instead of an actual lightsaber duel.

If the fight kept going on like this, she realized she would have to stop holding back. Former Jedi or not, this girl wants to kill her. She will have to fight back if she wants to live.

Fortunately, she girl ceased her barrage of lightsaber blows and stood back, probably for a re-breather. Ahsoka used this to her advantage and, along with catching her own breath, attempted to come up with a strategy.

"What good is this, Karelia?" She tried to get the girl calmed. "After you kill me, what then? You go back to your life as a refugee, hidden from people who want to kill you? You think that killing me will automatically make the Jedi come back and the Empire vanish in thin air?" The girl said nothing and continued to stare her down. "You think that killing me will bring your friend back?"

"No." ...Was all she said. The response was so short, Ahsoka couldn't tell the emotion behind it.

"Then why? What's the point of all this? None of this makes any sense! I'm not the one that killed the Jedi! I'm not the one that killed your friend! Sure, I was the apprentice of the guy that did, but it's not like I convinced him to do it! Is there some kind of grudge you have against me? Are you using the fact that I was Vader's apprentice as a scapegoat just to kill me?"

"No." She replied again.

"WHAT IS IT, THEN? TELL ME WHAT YOUR PROBLEM IS!" Ahsoka screamed, her patience finally snapped.

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree." She replied in a flat voice. Ahsoka felt her eye twitch.

"What the _hell_ is that supposed to mean?"

"Think about it. You were Vader's apprentice. _Apprentice. _For all we know, you could be in alliance with him, helping him hunt down whatever Jedi are left. That's why I have to stop you. For Sith, there are always two: A Master and an Apprentice. I'm gonna kill the apprentice, then I'll kill the master."

Ahsoka couldn't believe what she was hearing. This girl was actually crazy. For a moment, she considered letting the girl strike her down in hopes that it would cure her or at least get her to die by Vader's hand, then she can beat the lunatic up in the afterlife. She decided against this (obviously), and stuttered out the only words she could think of.

"I... I... Can't believe what I'm hearing. You're crazy- No, scratch that. YOU'RE OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND!"

"I'll show you who's crazy when I throw your corpse in the methane lake and light it on fire."

"You can't light a lake on fire... can you?" _Oh, great. _She thought._ Now the insanity's rubbing off on me._

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there."

She then took back to her fighting stance, and prepared yet another series of rapid fire strikes in an attempt to cut Ahsoka down. Ahsoka would've fought back... but then she saw the girl's eyes.

They were yellow.

* * *

I've never been good at anything mechanic-wise, but it was relatively simple fixing this speeder. Makes me wonder why we couldn't do it immediately. Didn't matter, because I was close to getting in prepped up. If it had enough power, I would've even used it to look for Ahsoka.

The reason I said "would've" is because she fell out of the trees just now, crashing onto the speeder.

"What the hell?" I yelled. Ahsoka was too dazed to respond, but not too dazed to move out of the way of an incoming Karelia with her lightsaber ready to pierce her body and the speeder as well. Fortunately, she missed as Ahsoka rolled over into the muck and ran to get back into her stance. Karelia was clearly pissed that she missed. She looked up and glared at me with a stare that I'm pretty sure won't leave my dreams for a while. I held my hands up and backed away slightly.

"Don't kill me. Whatever's going on between you two, I'm neutral." She ripped her saber out of the now unusable vehicle. She must have thought I was not worth her time (I'll be angry about that later) because she went right past me to attack Ahsoka. Both of them engaged in combat, and I looked at the almost-bisected speeder. Something clearly went wrong during their conversation.

"YOU JUST GONNA STAND THERE LIKE AN IDIOT OR HELP ME?" I heard her yell at me. The rest of the camp heard her, because people starting pouring out of their tents, weapons at the ready.

"Well, what's going on between you two? I actually like to learn what's going on before I jump into a fight so I know what I'm doing!" Contrary to popular opinion.

"She's possessed by the Dark Side!"

"She is?" I asked. Karelia clearly took offense to that statement.

"I am not! YOU ARE, YOU TRAITOROUS BITCH!"

"What the hell's she talking about?" I asked, perplexed by the situation.

"She's helping Vader in killing Jedi!" The pale girl yelled.

"What?" I was baffled at these statements.

"Don't believe her! She's trying to turn you against me! She's possessed! We have to help her!"

"SHUT UP!" The second girl yelled, and went on the attack again.

Normally, one would be torn between sides. Not me. I may be incompetent, but I'm not stupid. The decision was obvious. Ahsoka had much too big a grudge against Vader to even think about helping him. Besides who would want to help the very person responsible for killing all her friends?

All thinking aside, I pulled out my twin blasters and reluctantly opened fired on the pale girl. She must have used her Jedi sense to see it coming. She kicked her opponent down into the mud and used her saber to reflect the blasts. I kept firing as she moved closer reflecting my every shot. I knew I had to move away from her. That lightsaber of hers was certain death up close.

To my utter surprise, she didn't attack me with her saber. Instead she delivered as well placed punch to my face, sending me back onto the speeder's front end. It wasn't so much the power of the punch that send me down. There was barely any. It was more like the shock. A Jedi, even a former one, using a simple punch against a blaster welding opponent. I give her props for being unpredictable. I was too slow to get up, because she held me down by the throat with her left hand. Her right was holding her saber, which was ready to slice right through me. Fortunately, I managed to hold it back after dropping one of my blasters. Through the whole 30 seconds we were in that position, she kept glaring at me with glowing yellow eyes lined with ire.

"I... will cut... your fucking head off..." She snarled, sounding out of breath. Her saber hand was slowly moving towards my neck, but thanks to a well placed kick, I managed to knock her off without losing anything important. I sat up and swallowed a huge gulp of air, then coughed it out remembering we were on Malastare. Karelia fell on her butt and lost her lightsaber in the muck, but was quick to get up. Ahsoka grabbed onto her before she did got to anything and held her in a choke hold.

They both fell, knees dug in the swamp. Ahsoka held her hold around the girl's neck, not enough to choke her, but she was still clawing at the Torgruta's arm. You can easily tell Karelia was freaking out, thrashing her arms in attempt to get the girl off. It wasn't working as Ahsoka was remaining steadfast and spitting out some rantings that I assume were in attempt to calm the girl.

"Come on, Karelia! Fight this! You're a Jedi! You survived the Jedi massacre, you can survive this!" By now, Karelia was screaming uncomprehendingly with phrases such as "Let me go!" or "I'll kill you!" reaching out. Tears were raging down her face and it sounded like she was hyperventilating. She was having a full-on panic attack.

"Do it for your friend! Do it for Aldeema!" These words, and whoever the hell this "Aldeema" was, managed to calm Karelia down a level, but she was still fruitlessly struggling.

"No...No... I can't! It hurts! IT HURTS!" She whimpered out, clutching her head like it was going to split in half.

"FIGHT IT! REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE!" With that, she let go of her head, looked to the sky and let out a massive scream and rose a couple octaves beyond that of a regular scream. Then she went limp in Ahsoka's bloody arm. Ahsoka laid the girl on her back. She was still alive, with steady breathing. Slowly, the pale girl awoke.

"A-Ahsoka...What...What-?" Ahsoka silenced the girl by shushing her, telling her everything's alright. She slowly rose up and sat in a slouched manner, leaning on Ahsoka for support.

"Do you remember?" She asked Karelia. Karelia nodded, before whispering "everything."

"I remember dead Jedi... The corpse of my friend... killing innocent people... I remember... wanting to kill you. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You were possessed by the Dark Side. It wasn't you thinking. It's done though. You're free."

"Free? Freedom? Wow. It feels... good." She looked at Ahsoka with happiness in her eyes and gave her a bone-crushing hug. Ahsoka hugged back and the two sat their finally enjoying each others company.

It was a touching moment, which was ruined for me when I heard someone couch in the background. I turned around to see a whole village of pirates, looking dumbstruck at what they just saw.

"Okay!" I yelled. "That never happened! You never saw anything, right?" I asked, hoping they would take the hint. One poor soul didn't, ranting on about what just happened before his eyes like a kid in a candy store.

So I shot him with my blaster. Stun, of course.

"Anyone else see anything?" I asked once again. This time, no one complied.

"That's what I thought."

**I'd like to thank** **EsmeAmelia, whose story My Mother was a massive inspiration to this part. If you read it, I'm sure you'll see what I mean. You can find it in my favs.**

**Until next time, **

**Happy Life Day.**


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